What Christopher Wants Christopher Gets
by Teddit
Summary: Christopher comes to Stars Hollow for his usual visit: waltz into the girls life and waltz back out, leaving them to pick up the broken pieces together, that is until he asks a question and doesn't get the answer he is hoping for. This leaves only one option in his eyes: dropping a bomb that he hopes will tear the Gilmore girls apart. L/R story
1. Christopher Returns

AN: This is my first fanfic EVER so I don't know if it will be good or if anyone will ever read it but, hey, might as well gie it a try. I'm trying to make everyone stay in character but some people might be a little off. This will probably mostly be a Lorelai\Rory fic just so you know. PLEASE R/R, it's the only way I will know if anyone reads this and even one review would mean a lot. This first chapter may not have much action, but trust me at the end the ball starts rolling.

Disclaimer: Simple. I don't own Gilmore girl's or anything except my idea.

11 year old Rory Gilmore grinned as her father pulled up on his motorcycle in front of the Independence Inn. He was 2 hours late and she was beginning to think he had bailed on her and her mom. Again.

"Dad!" Rory squealed as she flung herself in his arms.

After a quickly hugging Rory back, Christopher opened his arms up so her mother could join them, "Come on Lor, I haven't seen my girls since Christmas." Lorelai wanted to yell at him, "Yeah, and whose fault is that," or, "If you missed us so much why were you 2 HOURS late," but for benefit of her daughter she just smiled and hugged him back.

Rory was already babbling to her father, "I'm so excited you're actually here. I mean it's your first time in Stars Hollow! There's so much stuff to do here! I could give you a tour of the town or... I know! I'll take you to the bookstore! I know Stars Hollow is small, but Andrew actually has a lot of books... Oh, wait, sorry, I should have asked you. What do you want to do?"

" Woah, hold on there kid. That sounds like a good plan for tomorrow, but first things first, I'm starved!" Lorelai exclaimed.

Rory playfully rolled her eyes and started giggling, "When are you not?"

Lorelai started pouting, "Hey, don't be mean to Mommy. The woman who spent hours and hours in unbearable pain just to bring you into this world..."

"OK, OK, enough!" Rory interrupted, "We'll find something to eat."

"Why, thank you. You always were my favorite offspring." Lorelai replied, and then turned towards Christopher, "You're the guest of honor. You choose where we eat."

After some deliberation they decided on Al's Pancake World. Dinner turned out to go fairly well, considering Christopher's past dinners with the girls. He only started to ignore Rory so he could talk to Lorelai a few times and he at least pretended to listen to all of Rory's stories with interest. Lorelai noticed that while Rory was usually more reserved, with Christopher she was constantly excited and talkative. Lorelai always thought it was strange how much Rory would change just being around Christopher. She figured it was just Rory trying to get noticed since everyone wants to be noticed by there parents, at least in some way. Right?

After dinner, the girls got Christopher settled into his room at the Inn and headed back to their potting shed. As they walked in Lorelai smiled to herself as she thought about she and Rory finally having their own house. She knew this day would be soon since she had finally saved up enough money and could now afford it. She hadn't told Rory yet because she wanted to surprise her with the news by taking her house hunting. Maybe they could go next weekend.

Lorelai was pulled out of her thoughts by Rory, "Hey Mom, do you think Dad will actually stay tell Sunday like he promised?

Lorelai sighed, you shouldn't have to doubt your own father's promises, "I'm not sure sweetie. Let's just enjoy the time we have with him now, okay?"

"Yeah, OK," Rory replied, "I don't know why I care so much about if he stays or not. I mean he bailed so many times before and obviously half the reason he comes is for you, but, I don't know. He is my dad."

Lorelai pulled Rory close. She hated seeing Rory so confused about her own father, "Hey, don't worry about it. Your dad does love you, he just... he takes for granted that just because he's your father you'll forgive him for everything. He hasn't matured enough to be able to really be a good father."

Rory looked thoughtful then smiled, "You're right. I'll try not to think about it too much. We don't need him. We've got each other. Right?"

Lorelai smiled back, "Totally right. Let's enjoy it while Christopher is here, but when he leaves we'll be just find. Us Gilmore Girls need no man!"

Rory nodded and giggled in agreement, "I love you Mom, goodnight," she said as she climbed into the bed her and Lorelai shared.

"Love you to babe," Lorelai replied as she climbed into bed next to her daughter.

"OK Dad, we've been pretty much everywhere of interest except the lake and Kim's Antiques. Lane's mom runs the Antique store so if you want to meet her we could go there first." Rory suggested

"Lane's the friend you were telling me about earlier, right? Christopher asked

" Yeah," Rory replied, "Want to meet her?"

"Sure, why not?" Christopher answered

It was Saturday afternoon and Rory was almost finished giving Christopher the grand tour of Stars Hollow. So far, from what Christopher could see, this town seemed to be full of nut cases who didn't know the meaning of personal space. It was normal for people to know everything about you even if you had never met them before. Poor Rory must hate living here. Lorelai was just to blinded by escaping society that she couldn't even see what was best for their daughter. At least that was then only explanation Christopher could think of. Why else would she reject his marriage proposal to move here?

"Here we are," Rory called out cheerfully as they opened the door to the antique store.

Lane came bounding up to Rory right as they entered, "Rory!" she squealed, she then turned to look at Christopher, "Who are you?" she asked.

"Oh hi, I'm Christopher, Rory's dad," He smiled. Just then Christopher's cell phone started to ring. "Sorry girls, it's work. I gotta take it," he said as he started walking out of the store.

Suddenly Ms. Kim appeared from behind some furniture, "Was customer in here?"

"No Mama, that was Rory's dad," Lane replied

"Oh," Ms. Kim turned to Rory, "You and your mother should live with your father."

"Oh...um, I'll tell my mom that, I guess," Rory stuttered

As soon as Ms. Kim was gone Rory started telling Lane about her dad. She was still talking when he walked back into the store. "Hey Rory, think we could end the tour a little early. I think Lorelai is just about finished with work so we could grab something to eat."

It was subtle but Rory could tell her dad was bored and just wanted to spend time with her mom. She was getting a little mad but then she remembered her and her mom's conversation last night. "Sure," was all she said.

On the way back Christopher was the first to speak, "So... I have some good news and some bad news," he looked at as her face fell. She was pretty sure she knew what the bad news was. "The bad new is I have to leave a little early..." Ding ding ding, Rory thought. "Don't worry, not tell tomorrow morning, but anyways, that's not the good news. The good news is, you're coming with me!"

AN: Sorry for the cliff hanger, but this seemed like a good place to end it. Like it? Hate it? Have any suggestions? Please tell me in reviews=)


	2. The Question

AN: Thank you everyone for R/R. I know I already said it in the messages but to those of you who don't have an account: Thank you! You have no idea how good it feels to come check on my story, expecting no reviews, and see that I already have 4!

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"What? No I'm not," a very confused Rory replied to her dad who had just told her he was leaving Stars Hollow and she was coming with him.

"Oh, you think I mean forever, right?" Christopher responded, "No, just for a trip to Hawaii. Its only 6 weeks. Trust me we'll have a blast. I mean kids love Hawaii!"

Rory still looked confused, "Why would I go on a trip with you? I hardly know you. Besides there's more than a month of school left. Not to mention I wouldn't just jet off somewhere with someone I hardly know and leave Mom behind."

"Come on Rory, live a little. Cut school for a month. You're smart, you'll catch up in no time," Christopher started breezily but then, gradually got angrier, "And what was that about not knowing me? Of course you know me. I'm your father! Father's take their daughter's on trips!" By the end is his speech, Christopher was yelling.

Now Rory wasn't just confused but she was scared. She had never seen her father this angry before. Granted, she hadn't seen him much before, but still. "You said you were hungry, right?" she said trying to stay calm, "Let's go get mom and find something to eat." All Rory really wanted right then was her mom.

"Sure, then we can tell her about the trip," Christopher said simply, like Rory was completely on board with the idea. He seemed a little calmer now and the last thing Rory wanted was to was get him fired up again so she just nodded her head like she agreed.

The walk back to the inn was silent. Christopher was still angry that Rory hadn't agreed to his idea in the first place and Rory was nervous about everything that Christopher had said. She really wanted to see her mom right now since she knew Lorelai would never let her go on this "trip" her dad was trying to force her into if she didn't want to go. They finally reached the inn and walked inside. Rory felt relief wash over her as she saw her mom walking down the stairs, "Mom!" she shouted as she ran towards her and jumped in her arms.

"Hey babe," Lorelai said smiling as she held Rory in her arms, "Not that I don't love the warm welcome, but what's up?"

Just as Rory was about to tell her about Christopher's "trip", Christopher walked up to them and gave Rory a look that said, "Don't say a word or you are in BIG trouble." Then he turned to Lorelai and told her about the whole trip, along with the lie that Rory really wanted to go. If he had known the girls any better he would have known that telling this sort of lie would never work. Lorelai and Rory could practically read each others minds. Lorelai took one look at Rory and could tell how much she really didn't want to go on the trip. Lorelai looked at Christopher like he was insane but just said, "We'll this is all very... interesting," she then turned to Rory, "Hey, babe, could you come with me for minute," Christopher looked like he was about to follow them but then Lorelai turned back, "This is private," she said sternly.

Lorelai put her arm around Rory and led her around a corner. As soon as they turned the corner a look of relief crossed Rory's face and she collapsed onto Lorelai, "Thanks," she said onto her mother's side. Lorelai held her for a while then gently asked, "What was going on back there? I mean, with the weird " Hawaii trip" and "Rory doesn't mind missing school thing"?"

Rory moved her head from resting on her mom's shirt and looked up, "I have no idea. We were just walking back and... he just said " oh hey, I'm leaving tomorrow, and so are you!" Then I said no, and he got mad and... I don't know, I'm just really confused," by the end Rory was almost in tears. She hugged her mom tighter while Lorelai tried to sooth her.

"Shh, it's gonna be OK Rory. I'll tell your dad that I'm the one who won't let you go on this trip and there is nothing he can do about it since he can't force you to leave school unless you and me agree. This is just Christopher being immature again. Hopefully he'll soon realize how incredibly stupid this is and will apologize."

Rory sniffled, "OK, that makes me feel better. But I think he already knows I don't want to go on his stupid trip."

"Ehh we'll wing it. If he's stupid enough to come up with this trip, he'll be stupid enough to believe your reaction changed," Lorelai shrugged as she and Rory started walking. Rory nodded but still looked nervous and upset. Suddenly Lorelai exclaimed, "Oy with the poodles!"

Rory stared at her for a second then burst out laughing, "Oy with the poodles?" she asked still giggling.

"Yeah, there funny words! Don't you think? I mean put them together and you've got yourself a catch phrase," Lorelai said with a grin.

"OK, I am usually the only one who can follow your crazy thought jumps, but I can't even understand you on this one," Rory said still smiling.

"I just don't want you to worry too much over your dad. You know how he is. He gets this crazy idea in his head, that he just won't let go, but then after a while he forgets about and all is well. And see your smiling now." Lorelai said. Then she sighed happily, "My crazy topic jumps always do make people laugh. I just don't get it!"

Just then the girls came face to face with Christopher, "Good, you girls have finally finished your " talk"," Christopher said annoyed, "Come on Rory you better hurry up and get packing." He then pulled at Rory's arm and tried to lead her out of the inn.

"Oh, wait!" Lorelai quickly spoke up, "Rory can't come with you. She has school, and 6 weeks is a long time to be gone. Sorry Christopher."

"She's my kid too, Lor! I have just as much right to do what I want with her as you do!" Christopher yelled. Guest at the inn were starting to stare and Lorelai quickly dragged Christopher outside. She turned to Rory and told her to stay inside. Lorelai didn't want Rory to witness her parent's fighting.

As soon as they were outside, Lorelai turned to face Christopher, "What the hell do you mean, " you have just as much right to watch Rory as me,"? That's a crap! If you wanted spend time with her so bad, then where were you the past 11 years!? I left the door wide open to you, Christopher! No, I didn't just leave it open, I encouraged you to use it. Because guess what? I agree that Rory needs a father. But what she doesn't need, is some guy trying to force to skip school to go to Hawaii with him. And oh, by the way, I know there's an ulterior motive to this trip. After 11 years of trying to escape visits, a guy doesn't just decide one day, that he suddenly wants 6 weeks with a daughter he hardly even knows!" by the time Lorelai was done with her rant she was furious and almost screaming. If there was one thing Lorelai could lose her temper over, it was someone disrespecting her daughter in anyway.

"Oh come on, Lor! Stop saying I don't know my daughter! Damn it! Why does everyone keep saying that? I have work! You know, some of us actually have to pay rent! Not everyone lives in potting sheds for free!" Christopher was shouting just as loud as Lorelai.

"Stop using work as an excuse, Christopher, cause guess what? You may not know this, but I do work hard! And I know you're used to living in big fancy mansions, but me and Rory are just fine how we are, living where we live," Lorelai took at a deep breath before continuing, "I think you really need to leave now," Christopher was about to protest, but Lorelai gave him a look that he new meant he couldn't do anything to change her mind. He just glared at her stormed off to pack his stuff up. As soon as he was gone, Rory slowly came walking out of the inn. She had heard everything her parents had said, since they were yelling so loudly. She walked up to Lorelai who had a tired look on her face.

"You OK?" Rory asked

Lorelai put her arm around Rory as she responded, "Yeah, I'll be just fine, Kid," she then looked at Rory and added, "We'll both be just fine."

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I hope you liked it=) Please don't expect all updates this fast but since it's the beginning of the story, updating is easier. Hopefully you'll stick around for the next update. Please R/R! Thanks


	3. The Bomb

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. There isn't much plot at the beginning of this chapter but its all leading up to the drama at the end. Enjoy!

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It had been 5 days since Christopher had left Stars Hollow and and he hadn't contacted the girls. This was pretty normal for Christopher, he usually left and forgot about Lorelai and Rory for at least 2 weeks after his visit. Most of the time, Rory was a little upset after he left, and Lorelai was usually mad, since Christopher had caused Rory pain, but this time they were both relieved. They had put Christopher's weird visit behind them and were going on with their normal lives.

"Beep. Beep. Beep," It was 7:00am, Thursday morning and the alarm was going off. Rory quickly turned it off and climbed out of bed. She grabbed the pop tarts from the cabinet and put them in toaster, and then turned back towards the bed and rolled her eyes. Her mom was still curled up in bed with the whole comforter on top of her. This was how it always was, Rory had little trouble getting out of bed (she wasn't an early riser, but she didn't want to be late for school) so she would start the morning routine, then get her mom out of bed. And there was only one way to do that: coffee. Rory put the coffee pot on and went to take a quick shower. By the time she was out, Lorelai was at their small table drinking her coffee and eating the pop tarts.

As Rory walked out of the bathroom, Lorelai glared at her, "You wasted all the hot water! Tomorrow, I get to shower first."

"OK, but that means you'll have to wake up first," Rory said sweetly, with a fake smile. They both knew Lorelai would never do that.

"No fair," Lorelai said with a pout, "Come on, Rory, please, please, please! Let your mommy have a hot shower."

"Early bird gets the worm!" Rory quipped, "Oh, by the way it's pathetic when you pout, especially when you're half asleep."

"Fine, I'll go take my COLD shower," Lorelai said with a glare.

"Enjoy!" Rory said in a overly cheery voice. Lorelai just stuck her tongue out as she's walked away. This fight was just too much for her overly tired brain at 7:30 in the morning.

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Later that morning, Lorelai and Rory were leaving the potting shed to get to school and work.

"Mom, remember I'm going to Lane's for dinner tonight so I'm gonna need A LOT of takeout food when I get home," Rory reminded Lorelai as they walked.

"Oh no, what's on the menu tonight at the Kim house?" Lorelai asked.

"Tofu rolls, and fat free, gluten free, sugar free, flax seed muffins," Rory replied with a disgusted look on her face.

"Sounds delicious!" Lorelai replied sarcastically. Rory laughed too but then her mom a pointed look, " I'll have Chinese and pizza waiting... Maybe even Indian..." Rory looked at her excitedly. "But you'll have to eat it outside," she added quickly, "And remember, I said maybe!"

"Thanks Mom!" Rory replied happily. They had reached the inn so they parted ways, "Bye."

"Bye Rory. Have fun at Lane's!."

"I will, Ms. Kim said she'd drop me off around 6:30, so you don't have to leave work early," Rory called back.

Alright, see ya," Lorelai responded as she walked into the inn. As she entered, Lorelai sighed at how packed the inn's lobby was. Yep, this was going to be a long day. She walked behind the front desk and started to check some paperwork, just to hear a snarky, French voice come up behind her.

"Good. Finally you're here. I have been dealing with these insufferable people all morning and I refuse to talk to anymore. And by that I mean all people. Including people on the phone."

Lorelai sighed as she looked at Michel, the concierge Mia had hired a year ago, and started to repeat the same warning she had to repeat almost everyday, "Well, I guess you'll just have to choose which is more insufferable, people or the unemployment office," she smiled

Michel glared at her and as if on cue, the phone started ringing, "If your answer is the unemployment office, I would suggest you answer the phone," Lorelai said sweetly. Michel grumbled but picked up the phone. "Good choice. I think Mia would be disappointed if you were fired after only a year. She claims you are really a good concierge. Even if your people skills are lacking," she mumbled the last part.

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Rory sighed as she looked down at her soggy shoe. Of course she had to step in the one puddle on the whole entire street and get her shoe soaked. She tried to shake some of the water off, but obviously that didn't work. Oh well, she thought, as she walked into her classroom, at least she could read her book now since her class got 10 minutes at the of everyday to read. That would surely make her forget about her soggy foot. Just as she was getting lost in the fantasy world of books, her teacher, Ms. Reilly, interrupted her thoughts.

"Listen up class! I'm glad to see you all got your books out like you were supposed too, but we're not reading today. I know you guys won't like this, but we're having a math mini quiz!" The class groaned as Ms. Reilly continued on, "Don't worry as long as you've done your homework this should not be a challenge," she started handing out the tests.

Rory sighed, why did they have to skip reading for this? And why did it have to be a pop quiz? Rory hated not being prepared more than anything. Yep, this was going to be a long day.

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Lorelai came bustling into the Independence Inn kitchen. There had been a lot of guests checking in and out today, which on top of making her busier, made Michel more difficult. She was now in desperate need of coffee. When she finally got a sip a it felt like heaven. She was still enjoying the feeling when the head chef at the Independence Inn, who she had become friends with over the past 5 years, pulled her out of her daze by shoving a spoon in her face.

"Try this! Try this!" Sookie was squealing. Before Lorelai could say a word the spoon was already in her mouth.

"Mmmh, Wow!" Lorelai swallowed then exclaimed, "This is so good! What is it?"

"Oh! You like it? It's blueberry sauce. I thought we could use for pancakes or whatever. You know it's actually pretty easy to make. You just need 1 cup of blueberries, a sprinkle of sugar..." Sookie started babbling

"Sookie! I don't need the recipe. That's what you're for," Lorelai interrupted.

"Oh right, yeah. Sorry," Sookie replied sheepishly.

"Oh don't worry about. So anyway, what are your plans for tonights dinner menu," Lorelai asked hoping there would be something good so she could take the leftovers for Rory after her dinner with the Kim's.

Sookie looked excited, "We'll I have a few plans but I'm guessing you'll like the one including coffee cake."

Lorelai smiled, maybe this day was looking up.

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It was 6:00 and work was finally over for Lorelai. Rory would be home soon and they could both relax with A LOT of takeout as Rory had said earlier that morning. Lorelai walked into the potting shed with her mail in hand. She started flipping through it idly: magazine, insurance ad, bill, bill, but then she reached a letter. It was from Christopher, and it looked official. Lorelai had a very bad feeling about this letter.

She dropped all other mail and tore it open. At first it looked like a bunch of legal gibberish Lorelai couldn't understand. But then she read a phrase she could understand. A fatal phrase. She felt like she was going to pass out and quickly leaned against the wall for support. She slowly slid down the wall tell she was sitting on the ground. Then she felt the flood gates start to break open and the tears started pouring out, first they were quiet, but then they turned to sobs. Lorelai could usually hide her emotions but this too much.

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Ms. Kim dropped Rory off in front of the inn, and Rory thanked her as she started walking towards the potting shed. Her day had been much better than it had looked like it would be in the morning and she was looking forward to hanging out and eating junk with her mom.

As Rory came close to the potting shed she could tell something was off. She quickly pried the door open and looked inside. The sight she saw broke her heart. There was her mom, the strongest person she knew, in the corner sobbing. After a second of shock, the instinct to comfort her best friend took over, and Rory ran over to her mom and held her close as an attempt to comfort her. Lorelai looked her in the eye and Rory got even more worried. Her mom was usually the master of hiding emotions, but right then, Rory saw so much pain and fear in her eyes. She could feel her mom's hurt as if it were her own.

Finally, after what Rory assumed was about 10 minutes, she couldn't take it anymore. What could possibly put her mom in so much pain? "Mommy?..." Rory said quietly. She didn't even have to finish the sentence. Lorelai just pointed to the letter from Christopher that she had dropped next to her. Rory gently picked it up and what she saw made her feel like she was about to pass out:

Christopher Hayden files for full custody of Lorelai Leigh Gilmore

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AN: I told you there would be drama=) I have a good idea of where the story is going but there's still some parts that aren't planned yet, so I'd love for you to leave suggestions in reviews. That way I can put in what you guys want to see.


	4. Little Girl

AN: Thank you for telling me your thoughts on the story, they gave me some good ideas. I am purposely making Christopher a worse guy then he is on the show (I don't think he is really mean, just immature) but for the purpose of this story he is a bad guy. I will try to make this as realistic as possible so it may be a bit of a rocky road for the girls, but don't worry, there will be a happy ending.

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Rory slowly opened her eyes and felt a pain run through her back, then she realized she was on the floor. Why had she fallen asleep on the floor? Then suddenly she remembered, and her eyes began to sting with fresh tears. She looked over to see her mom, still asleep, right next to her. She still looked like she was in pain in her sleep, but nowhere near as bad as she had looked last night. Rory then glanced over at the clock. It was 6:52, that meant the alarm would go off soon. Rory sighed she had wished it was still the middle of the night, since she really didn't want to go to school. That was a first.

Just then Rory glanced over to see Lorelai open her eyes, "Hey kid," she croaked, her voice still tired from sleep. At first she looked confused then Rory saw a look of pain fly across her face, but she quickly covered it up, "I guess I'll go take a shower." Rory knew Lorelai always tried to hide her pain from everyone when she was dealing with problems, but Rory also knew that all that did was lead up to a huge breakdown. Besides, Rory was really scared, she knew she couldn't just sit still and hope for the best. She couldn't even think about being separated from her mom.

"Wait Mom. Could I not go to school today?" Rory asked quietly. She knew she could never focus after last night.

Lorelai turned around and looked at her, the pain had returned to her eyes, "Rory, staying home won't solve anything. I don't want to spend the next 2 weeks worrying."

"But Mom, I'm gonna worry no matter what. It will help if we actually make a plan or something. I mean, aren't you scared?" Rory asked but she already knew the answer to her question, and as soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew she shouldn't have said them. Of course Lorelai was scared, but she was trying to protect Rory, as always. Rory could tell that the question had brought back all the thoughts she had tried to push away for later.

Lorelai looked resigned and tears started falling down her face, "I guess I can't protect you from this one... which sucks since it's really painful, but you know that," Lorelai tried to half joke lamely.

Rory put her arm around her mom and whispered, "Sorry."

"Hey, it's not your fault. You're not my little girl anymore," Lorelai said with a half smile.

"I'll always be your little girl," Rory said back.

Lorelai smiled, more genuinely, this time, "You remember that."

Rory's face then turned more serious, "What are we gonna do?"

Lorelai sighed and thought for a moment, "Honestly, I have no idea."

"We'll figure it out. That's what today's for," Rory replied more confident than she felt.

"Rory, you really don't have to stay home today," Lorelai replied, even though she knew that Rory had her mind set on this.

"Of course I do, and what's with the change of heart? You're always telling me to take a "mental health day"," Rory told her, giggling at the end.

"Well who am I to deny you of your mental health?" Lorelai said. She was secretly really glad that Rory was staying home with her today.

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The girls decided to not leave the potting shed all day and changed into their pajamas. Both of them just wanted to spend time with each other and forget about Christopher's letter. It had said that the court date was in 2 weeks and if there was one thing you could count on Christopher for it was that he would use his parents resources to full advantage when trying to get what he wanted. Lorelai knew this, and that made her very nervous because it meant Christopher had one big advantage over her: Money.

After lying around, and watching TV all morning, Rory's mind kept drifting farther and farther from reality. When she looked over at her mom she could see that she was also at of it. Finally Rory couldn't stand pretending like everything was OK. Every time she thought about her dad she felt sick. She figured that at first both her and Lorelai had been in denial that something like this would happen, but now she was ready to deal with it.

"Mom..." Lorelai looked towards Rory, "I know you said we should just use this day to relax and not do anything, but I really think we should do something. I mean..." Rory trailed off and started to shed a few tears, "I don't want Dad to take me. I don't want to lose you!" Her voice rose as she started to cry more.

Lorelai gently pulled Rory's head onto her lap and stroked her hair. Rory smiled a little, this was the way her mom always comforted her, no matter what. "Shhh, it's gonna be OK Rory. You are not gonna lose me," Lorelai said comfortingly. Rory clung to her legs, somehow she felt like if she kept holding on, no one would be able to separate them.

Rory was crying even harder now, "But how do you know? Dad's rich, right? Don't the richer people always win in court even if they are horrible criminals who should go to jail forever!?" Rory was getting close to being hysterical by the end. Lorelai guessed it must be all the pent up feelings from the morning coming out. Maybe ignoring the problem earlier that morning hadn't been the greatest idea, but Lorelai didn't know what else to do. If she thought about it at all, she started to break down. She knew that she should start calling lawyers and setting up a defense, but she just couldn't bring herself to do that, at least not today. Lorelai really just wanted one more normal day with her daughter, who may be torn away from her in 2 weeks. Obviously, that was impossible, but she was still in denial. Well, she was, at least until Rory's break down. Now all Lorelai could focus on was keeping herself calm enough to comfort Rory.

Lorelai just kept stroking Rory's hair and rubbing her back to comfort her, it also helped keep Lorelai calm. She could not have a melt down in front of her daughter. That would just add to Rory's stress since it would signify that she had a right to be really worried. Lorelai knew how bad it would look to the judge when they found her and Rory lived in a potting shed, and had lived there for the past 10 years. They both may not have minded, but Lorelai knew that Rory did deserve a real house. It killed that they could afford a house right now. Hell, they could have afforded to go out and by a house this weekend, but after lawyer bills and court fees that whole idea was out the window.

Why had Christopher decided to go for custody now? Lorelai knew it wasn't for Rory's well-being. If he had cared that much about her, he would have actually shown up for all her birthdays and called when he said he would. If he had been worried about their living situation he would have done this 10 years ago. It pissed Lorelai off beyond belief to know that Rory was just part of one of Christopher's schemes.

Lorelai looked down at Rory to find that she had fallen asleep. Poor kid, the only thing that could have tired her out was all that crying. Now that Rory was asleep, Lorelai started crying more openly, but made sure stay quiet. "What the hell am I going to do?" was the one thought that kept running through her head before she finally fell into a restless sleep.

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A few hours later both Lorelai and Rory woke up to the sound of knocking at their door.

"Who's that?" Rory asked groggily, sitting up on the couch.

"I'll go find out," Lorelai said as she stood up to walk over towards the door.

When she opened it, there stood a very relieved looking Sookie, "Oh good you're here. I was worried when you weren't at work today and didn't call in. I came straight here after I finished my shift to check on you."

Just then Rory came to the door, "Oh, hey Sookie," she said with a small smile.

Sookie then noticed the girls rumpled pajamas and tearstained faces, "Are you guys OK?" she asked concerned.

Lorelai and Rory looked at each other, "You should probably come inside," Lorelai said as she held the door open for Sookie.

Now Sookie was really worried. This meant there was a real problem and Lorelai hadn't just decided to take a "mental health day". She sat down on the couch just as Lorelai started talking, "It's Christopher..." She managed to choke out. Of course, Sookie thought, she really hated that guy.

Lorelai tried to continue but just couldn't seem to say it, "He... He's..." Saying it made it seem so much more real.

Before Lorelai could try to continue, Rory walked over to Sookie with Christopher's letter, "Here," was all she said.

Sookie read the letter and a look of shock came over her face, "But, but... he can't do this," She managed to stutter. Lorelai and Rory just looked at each other sadly. "What are you gonna do?" Sookie asked as she regained some composure.

Lorelai suddenly looked even more tired than before. Whenever she thought about actually dealing with Christopher she got super stressed out. "I was going to figure that out tomorrow."

Sookie reached out to give her a hug, "I'm sorry Honey. I'll help you out with whatever you need."

"Thanks Sookie," Lorelai replied. She did feel a sense of relief now that she realized it wouldn't be just her and Rory alone, vs Christopher.

After about a hour later Sookie left. She had promised that Lorelai could could call her for whatever she needed. Lorelai was grateful for that because she still had no idea what to do.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Rory walked over, with a book in hand, "Mommy... could we read?" Rory used to ask this all the time when she was little and couldn't read. As she got older, obviously, she could read by herself, so she didn't always need her mom to read books to her, but when she had really bad day or was extra tired she still liked having Lorelai read.

Lorelai also enjoyed reading to Rory. It made her feel like Rory was still her little girl, "Of course," Lorelai responded to Rory's question, smiling. They both climbed into bed and as Lorelai started reading there minds drifted farther from Christopher and into the world of books. Lorelai knew they would have to deal with him tomorrow, but at least they could have a few more peaceful moments before that.

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AN: Thanks for reading =) If you have any suggestions or things you would like to see happen please tell me in reviews. 


	5. Planning

It was the next day, Saturday morning, and both Lorelai and Rory were ready to take action against Christopher. Yesterday, they had both needed time to process, but now it had sunken in. Lorelai hadn't known where to start, so she decided to go to the person she always went to for adult advice, Mia. Mia had moved to California about a year ago but still kept in touch with Lorelai and Rory. She had taken care of the girls like they were her own family and they had all become close. Lorelai knew Mia would do everything she could to help her and Rory.

The girls were now in the middle of a phone conversation with Mia, and had just told her about Christopher's letter. Mia was shocked that Christopher would try to take Rory. Based on what she had seen in the past, it looked like he had little interest in her. Lorelai told her that she thought Christopher had some unknown motive and wouldn't be shocked if it wasn't even this idea.

Lorelai had been right that Mia would have a lot of useful information. She had told her where to find a good lawyer and even offered to write a letter of recommendation if Lorelai needed one. She had also said Lorelai should talk to Christopher and her parents. Lorelai knew that calling both of them might be a good idea, but thinking about actually doing it made her cringe. She figured she could could call the lawyer Mia had recommended first.

As they got off the phone Rory ran to grab her coat and shoes, "Come on Mom, let's go use the computer's at the inn."

Lorelai looked at her amused, "Why would we need to use a computer?"

Rory sighed, exasperated, "We have to do research, of course. You don't just want some random person, who for all you know, isn't even a real lawyer, representing you in court."

Lorelai was still amused, "Rory, babe, do you really think Mia would give us the names of fake lawyers?"

Rory gave her mom a pointed look, "That was an exaggeration. What I meant was, we have to make sure we get the best lawyer for the least amount of money. Don't you think that Dad will make sure he has a good lawyer?"

Lorelai resigned, "OK, OK, let's go research, but I'm sure we could have gotten all the same information much faster from talking on the phone." Rory would have responded but she was already pulling Lorelai out the door.

After they were finished researching to Rory's standards, the girls decided on the best lawyer and called to setup a meeting. They weren't able to talk much on the phone but Lorelai set up an appointment for Monday.

After they hung up the phone, the girls looked at each other, they both wanted to keep doing something. If they sat around too long the pain came back. Keeping busy and working towards their goal made it feel like they had at least some control in the situation. Finally Rory asked the question she had, had on her mind ever since she found out about Christopher trying to take her. She had been afraid of the answer and even with the brief conversation with the lawyer, her fears had risen. She took a deep breath and quietly asked, "Do you think that Dad will... do you think he has a good chance to win," by the end of her question Rory's voice was a little shaky.

Lorelai quickly looked down at her hands. Rory knew this was not a good sign, she had learned when she was little that if her mom was trying lie or even just bend the truth a little, she could never look Rory in the eye. Lorelai hated lying to her daughter, and hardly ever did it. The only time she would, was when she was trying to protect Rory, but as Rory got older, she could see through Lorelai's white lies more and more, so Lorelai hardly ever tried to even bend the truth anymore. In this situation, Lorelai wanted to tell Rory she was 100% sure Christopher would lose, but in reality, she honestly, wasn't so sure. Lorelai sighed and looked Rory in the eye, she had already figured out she couldn't hide this pain from Rory, "I don't know Kid," was all she said.

"OK," This was the answer Rory was expecting. She climbed onto her mom's lap, she always felt safer their. Then, suddenly, she had a thought, "Do you think we should call Dad? I mean, it would be a good idea to know what he's doing, and Mia said she thought we should talk to him too," Rory's voice than rose a little with excitement, "Maybe we could convince him to forget about this whole case!"

"Don't get your hopes up Rory. If we call him we'll probably just end up fighting," Lorelai warned. She wasn't so sure if it was a good idea to talk to Christopher.

"But don't you think it will help if we can found out why he's doing this?" Rory grabbed the phone.

"I guess," Lorelai said reluctantly as Rory looked at her for approval to start dialing. Before she pushed the last button to dial, Rory took a deep breath. For once Lorelai was half hoping that Christopher wouldn't pick up, but of course, this time he did.

"Hello?" came Christopher's voice from the end of the phone.

"Christopher," Lorelai responded.

Christopher suddenly sounded nervous, "Oh, hey Lor. Is Rory there too?"

Rory responded, "Hi Dad." It was silent for a while, no one knowing what to say, when Lorelai spoke up, "Why Christopher?"

"Why what?" Christopher played dumb.

"Oh, you know exactly what," Lorelai said harshly.

"Well, what do you want me to say Lor?" Christopher said raising his voice slightly.

"How about, why you are trying to take my daughter away," Lorelai responded.

"She's my daughter to!" Christopher used his typical answer.

Lorelai quickly shot back, "Yeah, so why didn't you care about her the past 11 years? You had every opportunity to come visit, but you bailed almost every time. Why do you suddenly care now!?"

"Oh come on Lor, I always cared but I'm ready now. Rory shouldn't have to live in a shed!" Christopher sounded like he was reciting lines.

Rory had been listening the whole time and finally decided to speak up, "Dad, please just leave us alone. I mean, I like it when you come to visit and everything, but Mom's my best friend so please don't separate us. I love my life in Stars Hollow, and I love living in the potting shed. It's my home so please don't criticize it," Rory was trying to stay calm, but on the inside she was getting madder and madder at Christopher.

"You just don't know any better Rory. Trust me, you'll see there's more to life than Stars Hollow. Don't let your mom brainwash you," Christopher still sounded rehearsed, in a way.

Now Rory was starting to lose her temper. She would not stand for anyone insulting her mom, "Stop saying you care about me! If you did, you would listen to me when I say " I do not want to live with you". And stop making it sound like Mom is the bad parent. She's the one that's taken care of me my whole life! God knows where you were the past 11 years!"

"I will not stand to have you talk to me that way, Rory. I am done with you guys telling me how horrible I am for no reason! Goodbye." He hung up before either Lorelai or Rory could get another word in.


	6. School Days

"Rory, come on let's go!" Lorelai shouted as she waited at the door of the potting shed. It was Monday morning and Lorelai and Rory had to get to work and school.

"Calm down, calm down! I just need to find a way to squeeze in my math textbook. Patience is a virtue Missy!" Rory shouted back.

"One that I don't possess!" Lorelai responded as she stalked back inside.

"This is all your fault, you know. I mean, your the one who bought this miniscule backpack!" Rory retorted.

"Your backpack is NOT miniscule," Lorelai said exasperated. She looked inside the backpack and rolled her eyes, "How about we stop blaming Mommy, and start admitting our problems," Lorelai held up a book, "6 books, Rory! 6! And they're fat ones too!"

"But I need the all the books, a funny novel, a serious novel, a biography, a nonfiction, short stories, and historical fiction," Rory replied matter of factly.

Lorelai quickly snatched the historical fiction book out of Rory's hands, "Anything that has to do with history automatically equals snooze fest," Lorelai tossed the book aside and started pulling Rory outside.

"But... but..." Rory tried to protest, "...fine," She could probably survive with just 5 books for just one day. She decided to change the subject, "So are you still planning on going to Grandma's and Grandpa's today?"

Lorelai sighed "Yeah, but I still don't wanna go," she pouted. Lorelai had decided to listen to Mia's advice and talk to her parent's, even though she really didn't want to. She knew they could be a big help in her and Rory's case, but that was only if they were on her side, and Lorelai wasn't so sure that they would be. The lawyer appointment Lorelai had made on Saturday, was scheduled for after school today, and she wanted to see her parents before then. It would be helpful to know if they were going to support her during the meeting.

"Well good luck," Rory said sympathetically. Now the girls realized they had reached the Inn and it was time to part ways. This was the first time they had been apart since finding out about Christopher's letter.

"Bye Kid, I'll see you after school, OK? I love you," Lorelai smiled and opened up her arms to give Rory a hug.

"I love you too, Mom," Rory replied as she fell into her mom's embrace. They stayed like that for a while, until Lorelai reluctantly spoke up, "Ready babe?"

"One more minute," Rory replied as she held onto her mom tighter. After a few more seconds the two slowly pulled apart, "You'll be here when I get back, right?" Rory asked.

"Of course," Lorelai smiled.

"OK," Rory smiled back and slowly started walking away, "Bye."

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Rory hadn't realized how late she was until she reached Stars Hollow Elementary and saw there was only one minute tell school started. She rushed inside just as the bell rang and class started. She shouldn't have spent so long trying to fit all those books in her backpack, now she didn't have time to talk to Lane about her dad. Oh well, she would just have to wait tell recess to talk to Lane.

The morning was passing very slowly for Rory. She kept wishing it was recess so she could explain everything to Lane, it was hard having to pretend everything was OK when on the inside all she could think about was her dad. She wanted to have someone to talk to. Rory also really missed her mom. They hadn't left each other's side since they found out about Christopher's letter and now she felt very alone and afraid. Rory was jarred out of her thoughts when she heard her teacher calling to her, "Rory!" by the tone of her voice Rory could tell this wasn't the first time had called on her. She just couldn't seem to focus today.

"Oh, sorry Ms. Riley. What was the question?" Rory asked embarrassed.

Ms. Riley gave Rory a funny look, Rory always paid attention in class, "I said what is the answer to question #5."

They had been doing math problems from the textbook and were supposed to get through #7, but Rory had gotten lost in her thoughts and only made it through #4. Now she was even more embarrassed, "I'm sorry I didn't make it that far," Rory said quietly as she looked at her hands

Ms. Riley looked at Rory with a sympathetic look. She knew Rory was hard worker, and wouldn't have been goofing off, "That's OK, Rory," She turned away to look at another kid,"Henry what did you get?"

After that incident Rory made sure to pay to pay extra attention. Everything was going smoothly, tell about an hour before recess.

Ms. Riley clapped her hands to get the class to stop what they were doing. Once everyone was looking at her she announced, "It's time for the English test," she started passing out the papers.

Rory's face paled, she had forgotten to study for the test. Her teacher had told the class about the test on Wednesday, but she hadn't wanted to study tell at least Thursday since she would probably forget everything by the time the test came around. She had completed all her other homework on Sunday, but had been rushing so she forgot the test. Rory was very nervous, she hated not being prepared. She had never forgotten to study for a test. 'I guess I'll just have to wing it' she thought. That was her mom would say in this situation.

As Rory was trying to calm herself down, Ms. Riley was watching her. She noticed how she looked nervous. Rory wasn't the type of kid to get so nervous before a test. She hadn't been acting like herself all day, and watching her now was just making Ms. Riley more worried about her. Maybe there was some sort of problem at home, she knew that Rory lived at the Independence Inn with only her mom, not the most stable situation. She decided to find out, "Rory can I talk to you for a minute?" she called to her.

Rory looked up from her test which she had just started, "Um, OK," she said nervously. As she walked over to Ms. Riley's desk, all she could think about was how she wanted to be home with her mom so she could make her feel better. She also thought about how mad she was at her dad, she really wanted to blame him for all her embarrassment today.

When she reached the desk, Ms. Riley gave her a look of concern, "Rory, are you OK? You seem kind of distracted today."

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just forgot about the English test, that's all," Rory replied.

"Are you sure, Rory? I'm not trying to be nosy, I just want to help. I know sometimes single parents can get overtired and not notice their children's problems. It's not their fault, but raising a kid is hard work. Just know that you can always talk to me or anyone at this school of you need to," Ms. Riley said, trying to sound sympathetic.

As soon as Rory heard the line about "single parent's' she went into defense mode. Was Ms. Riley trying blame her mom for her weird mood. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Her mom was hurting just as bad as she was right now but she still managed to take care of her, as always, " Do Not blame my mom for me messing up! Why does everyone assume everything is her fault!? She is the best mom in the world and my best friend, so don't talk about her like she's some sort of screw up parent that can't take care of their own kid!" Rory was almost shouting, all her pent up emotion was coming out. Having any sort of breakdown was very uncharacteristic of Rory and the whole class was staring. As Rory saw their stares she was brought back to reality and ran out of the room, with tears in her eyes.

Ms. Riley was shocked, she had known Rory was upset but this was still very unexpected. As Rory was running out of the room she shouted out apologetically, "I'm sorry Rory. I didn't mean it like that," but Rory ignored and just kept running. She sighed what had she said to set Rory off like that?

As soon as Rory was out of the room, Lane called out to Ms. Riley, "Can I go check on her?"

"I think that would be a good idea," Ms. Riley replied. She then looked at the rest of the class who was watching the scene unfold, "Sorry for the disruption class. Go back to your tests."

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As soon as Rory had left the class she hadn't known where to go, but had somehow ended up in the bathroom. She was so embarrassed for her outburst in class and just wanted hide in the stall all day. How could she go back to class after that? Why had she gotten so upset with her teacher? Sure, she always got mad if she felt like people were attacking her mom, but she wasn't usually that sensitive. Besides, her teacher hadn't even said anything really mean, she was just trying to help. Before Rory could come up with any answers she heard someone enter the bathroom.

"Rory," Lane called out, "Are you in here?"

Once Rory realized it was Lane in the bathroom, she opened the door a crack, "I'm here," she said quietly.

"Are you OK?" Lane asked as she walked over to Rory,

"Oh, yeah, I'm OK now," Rory said unconvincingly, as Lane looked at her skeptically. A few tears escaped her eyes, "OK, not really," Rory admitted.

"What happened?" Lane asked concerned, "Is this why you weren't at school on Friday? I would have called, but my mom made me come with her to an antique show without phones.

Rory nodded, then told her all about her dad and his letter.

"I'm so sorry," Lane replied shocked. She hadn't expected something like this to be what was bothering Rory, "I guess that explains why you freaked out about Ms. Riley calling your mom a bad parent."

"Yeah, but she didn't really say that. I just kind of jumped to it... I've made such an idiot of my self today," Rory sighed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not your fault that you're so distracted today, or that you got defensive of your mom. I mean, your dad did just come in and basically say that she couldn't take care of you," Lane said, trying to comfort Rory.

"I guess when you put it like that it does sound more reasonable... but I still cannot go back to class," Rory said defiantly.

"Come on Rory, if we don't go back now, Ms. Riley will send the counselor after us," Lane said the end smiling. Everyone in school hated talking to the counselor, she thought she knew kids so well and could solve anyone's problems. It was almost as bad as talking to the principle.

That got Rory to smile, "No!" she squealed. Then she sighed, "Alright, let's go."

The girls slung their arms around each other as they walked back to class.

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I was gonna put Lorelai going to Emily and Richard's in this chapter, but it too long, so that will be next time. Hope you enjoyed this chapter=).


	7. Don't You Care?

AN: Thanks to everyone for the support with this story. It really makes me want to update faster=)

Just to be clear, the beginning of this chapter takes place at the same time as the last chapter.

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Lorelai sighed as she pulled into the driveway of the Gilmore Mansion. The drive had felt suspiciously shorter than usual. It seemed like every part of her body was telling her to turn the jeep around and high tail it out of there, but there was this one little spark, she couldn't quite identify, that was telling her that her parents did have some sort of compassion deep down. It was felt sort of like the childish hope she always used to feel when she brought home a piece of artwork she was proud of, or a test that she had got an A on when she was a kid. She knew deep down her parents would somehow demolish the achievement but she still hoped that maybe, just once, they would actually be proud of her.

Now, as Lorelai drove up to her childhood home, she had a similar feeling, except this time she didn't just want their approval. This time, she really just hoped they would help their own daughter during one of the hardest challenges in her life. The more Lorelai thought about it, the more she wanted to turn around. Who was she kidding? Her parents never failed to remind her how much of a disappointment she was. Hell, she was surprised they hadn't already tried to take Rory away from her. But there was one way her parents could help her in a way no one else could: Money.

Lorelai had plenty of friends that would drop everything to help her and Rory, and she was very grateful for them. But, money was the thing that mattered most in court, and it was what her parents had. Lorelai wished that she didn't have to resort to this, but out of everyone she knew, her parents had the most money. She hoped they would be willing to do one of two things. One: just back her in court, so Christopher would have some match in terms of money, or Two: Give her a loan so her and Rory could afford a house. The loan wouldn't have to be much, since Lorelai could have afforded a house before lawyer bills, but she knew having her parents on her side at all was a long shot.

Finally, Lorelai climbed out of the jeep and slowly walked over to the imposing doors of the Gilmore Mansion. She stood there for a few seconds before building up the courage to ring the doorbell. She waited for a little bit before Emily Gilmore opened the door.

"Hi Mom," Lorelai said nervously as her mother stood there staring at her.

"Hello Lorelai. What are you doing here?" Emily replied coldly.

"Umm... Well, could I come in?" Lorelai replied, a little flustered.

"I suppose," Emily said as she walked into the living room.

Lorelai followed her, not sure of what to do. Just the Richard walked into the room and spotted Lorelai.

"Oh, hello Lorelai. I thought I heard the doorbell ring," Richard said.

"Hi Dad," Lorelai responded still nervous.

Emily looked at Lorelai, "Why don't you go ahead tell us why you're here. I don't recall us forcing any kind of visit on you, and you usually bring Rory along."

Lorelai took a deep breath before answering, "Christopher may have already told you this, but, if not, he's filing for custody of Rory," she blurted the last part out quickly, not sure how her parents would react.

Emily responded nonchalantly, "Yes, he did tell us."

Lorelai wasn't sure how to react to that, "Well, OK..."

"And was there anything else?" Emily asked casually.

At first Lorelai just sat there confused. She had envisioned many different ways for her parents to react to her visit, most of them very unpleasant, but in all of them her parents had acted like they cared at least a little. Didn't they care about what happened to their granddaughter? If nothing else, she was the one shining hope for the Gilmore family's name to gain back the pride it had lost in with her. Suddenly Lorelai blurted out a response to Emily, "Don't you care what happens to Rory!?"

"Of course we do, Lorelai," Richard answered defiantly, "Why would you ever question that?"

"Maybe because when I brought up something that could turn Rory's world upside down you showed no signs of even having an opinion!" Lorelai started to shout. Maybe she was overreacting, but her parents were infuriating! Were they on her side? Did they even care at all?

"Lorelai, stop being so dramatic. If you must know, I was shocked when Christopher told us he was planning something like this. Honestly, he should have done it years ago, I suppose he just needed time to get his bearings..." Emily said, but was cut off before she could finish.

"If I was such a terrible mother that deserved to have their child taken away from them, then why didn't you do it all those years ago?" Lorelai interrupted her mother sarcastically, "And did you just say that Christopher needed time to get his bearings? Well, if I had taken 11 years to get my bearings then who knows where Rory would be right now!"

"Oh please Lorelai! Do you know how it would sound to society if I had to go after my own daughter in court? Especially after all the embarrassment you had already caused, the last thing I needed was for more attention to be drawn to you! It looks bad enough for Christopher to have to do it, but at least he is the child's father," Emily said matter of factly, "Step back and take a look at yourself. You may think you are this amazing mother who doesn't deserve to have their child taken away, but you live in a shed. You had an option to stay, and give Rory a respectable life, but no, you had to make the selfish choice," Emily finished her speech with a snarl.

Tears had already started falling down Lorelai's face. She usually didn't let Emily affect her this much, but this had brought up many insecurities Lorelai had lying around. She began to doubt her past life decision's. Was she selfish for running away with Rory from the Gilmore Mansion? She had always told herself that it was for Rory's own good, since Lorelai did not want her growing up in society, but maybe she was just a selfish mother.

"Fine, if you want to side with Christopher, go ahead, but you should know that Rory does not want to live with him. I thought that maybe for once you would be on my side, but who was I kidding? I will always just be the screwup daughter who ruined your perfect reputation!" Lorelai shouted through her tears as she stood up and made her way to the door.

"Lorelai wait!" Richard said as he hurried after her, "Don't take what your mother said too literally. We just think it would be best for Rory to get a chance to live in society, so she could still have a chance to turn out as a proper lady. It's not like Christopher is going to kidnap her, you'll still get a chance to see her sometimes."

"Rory's my daughter. I get to choose how she is raised!" Lorelai said forcefully before slamming the door.

Lorelai walked over to the jeep, trying to get the tears to stop, but they kept coming. Once she was inside, she realized how shaky her hands were and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. Why did her parents make her question herself so much? She knew she wasn't the best mother in the world, but she wasn't an awful one either, was she? Why had she ever thought her parents would even consider helping her?

Lorelai finally managed to calm herself down. If her parents didn't want to help her, fine. At least she had tried. Her and Rory didn't need them. They still had the lawyer appointment later today, and that was what she needed to focus on. Lorelai pulled out of the drive way feeling a lot better, but she still had a flicker of doubt in her mind.

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I hope you like how I wrote this chapter. I wasn't exactly sure how to write everyone in this situation, but I felt like I needed to have Lorelai talk to her parents. Please review=)


	8. I Don't Want To Go

AN: Thanks for telling me your thoughts in reviews. I know some parts of the story (everything involving law) may be a little (or a lot) unrealistic, but try not to focus too much on that. I'm doing the best I can to be realistic and still have an interesting story. I also realize that it does seem kind of like Lorelai is a bad parent (running away, living in the potting shed) so in court I will make her be judged for that. Also, Lorelai could afford to buy a house, but after having to pay for a lawyer, she was set back a bit.

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Lorelai pulled up to the inn, just arriving back from meeting with her parents. She really just wanted to go home with Rory and have a lazy movie night, but they had an appointment with the lawyer scheduled for right after Rory got home from school. Lorelai sighed. Now that she had talked to her parents, things seemed even more hopeless than before. She knew that having healthy living conditions was one of the most important points that went into deciding custody, and the potting shed definitely didn't qualify as that. Who would want to help a person with a case like hers? She would be lucky if any lawyer even agreed to take on her case. As Lorelai thought she walked out to the front porch of the inn. Rory would be getting home soon and she had promised to meet her outside.

Rory walked down the pathway leading to the inn, and smiled when she saw her mom waiting outside just like she said she would be. It had been an exhausting day, after her melt down that mornings and she just wanted to relax with a Gilmore movie night. She dropped her backpack, tiredly, on the path and trudged on then rest of the way towards her mom. When she reached her, they both opened their arms up, and fell into each other's embrace.

After a few seconds Lorelai mumbled, "How was your day?"

"Sucked," Rory responded, "Yours?"

"Same," Lorelai said. They just stayed there for a while, both understanding that neither of them wanted to talk.

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About an hour later the girls were seated at a desk with a lawyer, Sara, sitting across from them. Lorelai had described the situation to her and now she seemed to be thinking it over.

After a few seconds Sara responded, "Hmmm... This seems like a complicated situation, but I don't know if I can help you."

"But why not?" Rory blurted out.

"Well..." Sara seemed hesitant to answer, "It's hard to win any custody case when it is in question if the child is living in a safe condition."

Rory started to get angry but quickly calmed herself down. She didn't want to have another breakdown. "You don't have to worry about safe living conditions. My mom always makes sure I'm safe," Rory said defensively. She was sick of people questioning if her mom cared about her or not.

"Honey, I get that you're used to not living in a stable house, but the law frowns upon it, especially since you have other options," Sara stated in a very formal way.

Lorelai and Rory both cast each other a look, this person was definitely a stereotypical lawyer. Rory was getting fed up, but Lorelai stayed calm. She knew a lot of lawyers would not want to accept her case, "I know the potting shed isn't the best place to live, but I was looking into other options."

Sara looked at Lorelai, "Like what?"

"Well, before this whole situation I was looking to buy a house, but now, because of lawyer bills, maybe rent an apartment or something." Lorelai said uncertainly, she mostly wanted the lawyer to keep listening to her.

"I suppose if you could manage something like that I may be able to help," Sara said, "It may seem like I'm against you, but I have to look at every case with a critical eye."

"Thank you," Lorelai responded properly.

Sara continued on, "So we can deal with the living situation later, for now let's get down to business," She turned to Rory, "Could you tell me what contact with your father is like?"

"Sure, when I was a baby he hardly ever visited, but when I got older we saw him a little more. Mostly for holiday's at my grandparent's house and sometimes on my birthday. Last time he came was the first time he came to Stars Hollow," Rory responded. She tried to be professional like Lorelai had been since that would probably make the lawyer want to help more.

Sara was taking notes, "OK. Was there anything you know of that was holding him back from visiting?" She glanced at Lorelai for a second.

"No. Mom always encouraged him to visit," Rory said.

Sara nodded and changed the subject, "Was there a reason that he never paid for child support?"

Lorelai responded, "Once, the first time I saw him after moving out of my parent's house, I asked if he would be willing to help, but he said he didn't have enough money to and his parent's wouldn't want to do anything. I didn't go after it any farther cause I knew he was right and I thought me and Rory were doing OK."

Rory piped up, "And we did just fine without him."

Sara considered everything for a moment, "Did you ever consider partial custody in the past? I know it's too late now, since it seems Christopher is all or nothing, but did you ever think about it?"

"Not really. Christopher never really..." Lorelai tried to think of something to say that wouldn't hurt Rory, "Well, back then Christopher was kind of all or nothing too, so he said he either wanted to get married or... continue with his original plans.

" I see," Sara seemed confused for a moment, "Why do you think he suddenly changed his mind on wanting custody of Rory?"

"That's Christopher being Christopher," Lorelai sighed.

Sara still seemed confused so Rory added on, "She means he gets a random idea in his head and won't let go."

"Well, that doesn't seem like the best reasoning of why to go into court, but I don't see any evidence of him being a bad parent," Sara stated.

"What about how he always breaks his promises?" Rory asked. She was surprised that the lawyer didn't see any problems with her father.

"What I mean is there are no arguments against him in court. For your mother he can say that running away put you in an unstable condition."

"Please, if he had been forced to take care of me as a baby, I can only imagine what would have happened," Rory scoffed.

Sara just brushed off Rory's comment, "If there is anything else you would like to talk about say so, but I think we have enough information to get started now."

Both Lorelai and Rory stood up, "I think we're good. Thanks for talking to us," Lorelai replied.

"Thanks for coming in. I'll call you later," Sara said professionally.

The girls left the office and walked to the car. Rory was replaying the meeting in her head. she thought about what Sara had said and started getting a little worried. She seemed to think that Christopher was a good parent. Maybe anyone would if they didn't know him personally. She sighed. This was a lot to think about and she was really tired from school and the meeting.

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Rory blinked her eyes open and looked around. She was at the inn. 'I must have fallen asleep' she thought.

Lorelai noticed that Rory had woken up, "Hey Kid. Come one we just have to walk over to the potting shed, then you can crash again," she said softly.

Rory leaned on her mom as they made their way over. Rory felt relieved as they stepped inside, but she suddenly snapped out of her grogginess and remembered what had been on her mind before falling asleep. She instinctively clung to her mom tighter. Lorelai tried to lie Rory down in their bed, but she held on.

"You can let go now, babe," Lorelai whispered.

"But I don't want to go," Rory mumbled still a little sleepy.

Lorelai understood what she was thinking and lay down next to her daughter. She started stroking her hair gently, "I love you Kid."

"Love you too Mommy," Rory said quietly as she drifted off to sleep with a safe feeling around her.

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AN: I know there wasn't much action in this chapter, but I kind of needed to just squeeze something in to move the story along. I also had a little bit of trouble writing this chapter because I had know idea how to write about talking with a lawyer, so please be lenient if I messed anything up with the law. I tried to take your reviews into consideration so hopefully it isn't too bad.

Also I don't really know what to write between here and court so I was thinking of just skipping ahead. Please tell me if there are any scenes you would like to see before then. Thanks=)


	9. Nightmares and Carol Brady

AN: Thank you for all the kind reviews and everyone who followed or favorited this story. Your support is what encourages me to keep writing=) I hope you enjoy!

Also, I may not update for a little longer than usual because I'm going to visit family for Christmas. I might be able to get some writing done on the plane, but no promises.

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Tomorrow was the big day. The day of facing Christopher in court. Lorelai's mind was on overdrive, she couldn't go a second without worrying about what was going to happen. She had spent the past week and a half making plans with her lawyer and trying to put on a brave face for Rory. Rory had wanted to be involved with everything and know every detail of the case, but Lorelai still wanted to protect her. She had tried to have a separate life with Rory, from the case, but that was hard, since she could hardly get her mind the focus on anything else. She knew it was the same way with Rory too. The case did involve her as much, or more than, it did Lorelai. Lorelai knew she had to be strong in front of Rory, but sometimes she would breakdown. Never in front of Rory, she definitely didn't want to add to her stress, but at work or when Rory was asleep, sometimes her doubts and fears would overwhelm her to the breaking point. When this happened to Rory she would be there in a second to comfort her, and she knew Rory would do the same for her, but she was Rory's mother which meant she had a duty to protect her.

Lorelai glanced over as Rory walked out of the bathroom in her pajamas. She made her over to the couch and curled up next where Lorelai was sitting. Both of the girls had been extra quiet that night, which was very rare in the Gilmore house. Lorelai smiled at Rory, "We still have about an hour before bed, what do you wanna do?" She tried to sound cheerful, but it ended up sounding fake.

"How about a movie?" Rory replied trying to match her mom's enthusiasm. Lorelai selected a random movie, knowing neither of them would really be paying attention. When Lorelai sat back down, Rory quickly cuddled up to her. Lorelai put her arm around her daughter and gently pulled her closer. Rory relaxed a little, she always felt safer when her mom held her.

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Lorelai slowly opened her eyes and didn't remember where she was. She felt a weight on her arm and looked down to see Rory sprawled across her lap, they must have fallen asleep during the movie. Groggily, Lorelai turned towards the clock, it was already 1am. Before she could wake Rory up to move to a real bed, she let out a whimper in her sleep.

Lorelai gently shook her daughter trying wake her up, "Rory babe, time to move to a real bed."

Rory didn't respond to her mom, but just started kicking and let out a soft shriek.

"Rory," Lorelai said a little louder.

This time Rory opened her eyes, but they were filled with tears. She started crying and clung to Lorelai tighter.

Lorelai immediately pulled Rory into her lap and started smoothing her hair, "Shhh, it's OK babe. It was just a bad dream," Lorelai could always tell when her daughter had a nightmare, and she wasn't surprised that she had one tonight.

After a few minutes, Rory calmed down enough to talk, "It was really scary," she hiccupped, "I don't remember everything, but there was a car and... someone pushed me into it. And they were kidnapping me! Then the car started flying and some how it transported somewhere super faraway."

Lorelai just kept comforting Rory, she knew she would calm down once she realized it was just a dream. Rory finally completely stopped crying, "I guess that was an overreaction," she said.

"No such thing as an overreaction to dreams. They all mean something," Lorelai stated matter of factly.

Rory rolled her eyes, "Not with the dream philosophy thing again."

Lorelai ignored the comment, "Ready to move to the bed?"

Rory nodded and Lorelai stood up to move. Rory quickly grabbed her arm, OK, maybe she wasn't completely over her nightmare. As they lay down, the girls held onto each other extra tight. Rory knew they should go to sleep, but she didn't like the silence that had fallen over them, "Mom? I'm scared... you know, for tomorrow," she said unsteadily.

"Me too, but it'll be OK," Lorelai said shortly. She wanted to be more comforting, but didn't know how else to respond.

"But how do you know?" Rory wanted to be strong like her mom, but she wasn't so sure that everything would turn out OK.

"I just know. Remember? I know everything," Lorelai smiled.

It was then that Rory realized her mom really didn't know everything. She was also probably just as scared as Rory was right then, but she wanted to be supermom, like always. Rory hadn't seen Lorelai really cry since receiving Christopher's letter, but now that she thought about it, Rory was sure that she had, just not in front of her. Her mom was always trying to protect her, and she did a really good job. I mean, this was the worst thing to happen in Rory's life so far, and it definitely wasn't her mom's fault. This whole mess was all the work of her dad. This was why Rory really wanted to talk in court tomorrow. She had written down some points she wanted the lawyer to mention, but they wouldn't allow her to actually speak in court because she was too young. Lorelai had said that this was good because it would be a lot less stressful for her, but Rory still wanted to be in control. In Rory's mind, it was completely unfair to even compare Lorelai and Christopher. Lorelai protected her from pain and Christopher just caused it.

Rory responded to her mom's earlier comment by nodding, even though it was dark, "If you know everything, then what am I thinking right now?" Rory didn't want to keep talking about Christopher, but she did want to keep talking.

Lorelai pretended to think, "Hmmm... You are thinking that I am the best mom in the whole world and you love me more than Liam Jacobs," Lorelai teased then burst out laughing.

"How many times do I have to tell you!? I do not have a crush on Liam Jacobs! It's all in your loony head!" Rory immediately replied annoyed.

"But I've seen the way you look at him..." Lorelai replied dramatically.

"Mom!" Rory cut her mother off.

"OK, OK, you do not have a crush on Liam Jacobs," Lorelai stated so she could change the subject, "But you cannot deny that you were thinking I am the greatest mom ever!"

Usually Rory would roll her eyes at this part of her mom's analysis, but she actually had been somewhat thinking about that, "Don't flatter yourself," was all she said.

"You so think I'm the greatest mom ever!" Lorelai exclaimed gleefully, "Even better than Carol Brady?"

"I never said anything to make you believe that," Rory replied defiantly, "And you're just giving yourself easy competition by choosing Carol Brady. Alice did all the work in that family."

"Yeah, but..." Lorelai tried to reply but was cutoff by her yawn.

"Looks like somebody's getting tired," Rory said.

"Well, it is..." Lorelai glanced at the clock, "Almost 2am in the morning."

"Wow, I didn't realize it was that late," Rory responded, now a little more sleepy.

Lorelai had suddenly gotten a lot more tired, "Time flies when reading minds," she said drowsily.

"Whatever you say," Rory smiled, "Good night Mom. I love you."

"Love you too Babe. Sleep tight," Lorelai replied half asleep.


	10. The Decision

AN: Sorry I'm so late on this chapter! As I said before, I was visiting family for Christmas so that set me back a bit, but it still shouldn't have been this long. I don't have an excuse except for writers block and the challenge of writing realistic, yet interesting law. I'm sorry=( I hope you all had a great holiday season and a Happy New Years!

This is the long awaited court chapter, which has been very hard to write because of all of the involvement with law. As I have said before: I do not know how this situation would be dealt with in real life, so bear with me. I will try to make this realistic, but I'm just gonna write how the story played out in my head so please try not to judge me on the authenticity too much.

By the way to those who were wondering, this story is not going to be javajunkie. Don't get me wrong, I am javajunkie all the way, but I want the story to be about Lorelai and Rory's relationship. I may include Luke, as a friend though. Wow, sorry for the long AN! Thanks to those of you who actually read the whole thing=)

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It was the morning of court and nervous energy filled the Gilmore household. Rory hadn't let her mom out of her sight since she had woken up, and had followed her around as they was getting ready. This didn't go unnoticed by Lorelai and it reminded her of when Rory was little and got lost once. She hadn't even really been lost, she had just wandered into a hallway in the inn while Lorelai was cleaning a room. It hadn't been a big deal, but Rory was still scared after that. For weeks she wouldn't let Lorelai go more than a few feet away from her without crying. Rory was probably about 3 or 4 then, but she was acting like the same little girl now.

Lorelai glanced at the clock and realized they had to leave now to make it on time, "Ready to go, Rory?" she called over to her daughter who was actually just right next to her.

Rory's face paled a little, but she just nodded.

As the car pulled away, Rory could not stop fidgeting. She was usually a pretty patient person, but today she was so nervous that moving was the only way to control her stress. Suddenly she was jolted back to the real world, as she heard her name being called, "Rory, earth to Rory!" Lorelai was calling to her.

"Oh sorry," Rory responded, "What did you say?"

Lorelai was looking at her concerned and didn't seem to hear Rory's response, "No matter what your gonna be OK, alright? There's nothing you or I can do now to affect what's going to happen, so try to take a few deep breaths and calm down," Lorelai said, trying to the comforting.

"I don't feel like it's going to be OK," Rory said quietly.

"It will be OK. No matter what, life will go on," Lorelai said trying to be strong, "Your dad isn't a serial killer. Living with him would be OK, maybe you would even enjoy since you do have fun with him when he visits. Now I'm not saying I'm hoping for him to win. Trust me, it would hurt a lot not to see you everyday, but it's not like we're going to lose each other. We would still see each other all the time, and I would still love you. I will always, always, love you no matter what, Rory," Lorelai was trying to sound strong for her daughter, but by the end of her speech she was almost crying. She was just as scared as Rory was that they would lose, but she was trying to be confident so Rory wouldn't be as nervous anymore.

After listening to her Lorelai, Rory was actually crying a little. Maybe everything her mom said was true, but knowing Lorelai, that speech was probably meant to convince herself just as much as it was for Rory. Even if Rory knew that her mom didn't know everything, she still felt a little calmer, because she did trust her mom when she said everything would be OK. "I will always love you too, Mom," Rory responded to Lorelai, "And no matter what, I'll still always be on your side, and you'll always be my best friend."

"Right back at ya, Kid," Lorelai replied with a few tears in her eyes. Both girls felt a little more confident the rest of the drive, and before they knew it they had arrived at court. They climbed out of the jeep, just as Christopher pulled up. All of Rory's nerves came back and she froze in place. She didn't know what to say or do. Luckily, before Christopher could say anything, Lorelai came up behind Rory and protectively put her hand on Rory's shoulder, "Hey Christopher," she said coldly.

Before Christopher could say anything, a women climbed out of his car and spotted Rory, "You must be Rory! I've been dying to meet you. Your dad here has told me all about you," she said excitedly, "Oh sorry, I should introduce myself, I'm Cindy, Chris's girlfriend," she held out her hand for Rory to shake.

Rory looked at Cindy surprised and shook her outstretched hand, "I'm Rory... but I guess you already know that," Why was her dad's girlfriend here? And why did she seem so excited to meet her? Rory looked over at her mom and saw she looked just as confused as she was. "Oh, this is my mom, Lorelai," Rory added to her introduction.

"Hi," Cindy said to Lorelai. Lorelai smiled back, but Rory could tell it was fake. Her mom must see something strange about Cindy too.

"So...," Christopher spoke up nervously, "We should probably head inside now."

"OK," Lorelai responded. Everyone could feel the tension rising as they walked into the building. Once inside, Lorelai and Rory, and Christopher and Cindy, went their separate ways to go meet with their lawyers.

"Tell me if I'm wrong but that women seemed really strange back there," Lorelai whispered to Rory, "And why was she even here?"

"You're definitely not wrong," Rory whispered back. Just then Sara, the lawyer, saw them and made her way over to start preparing. Before they knew it, it was time to head into the courtroom. Rory still really wanted to go in but she was forced wait outside the room because she was too young. A child counselor was going to come to talk to her separately though.

"May I speak with Lorelai, or Rory Gilmore please," a man said as he walked into the waiting room.

Rory looked at her mom nervously who gave her a reassuring smile, as she stood up and made her way over to the man, "I'm Rory Gilmore," she said quietly.

"Hi Rory, I'm Mr. Jonas. Can you talk with me for a little bit?" It was obvious he was used to dealing with nervous kids from the way he talked.

"Um, OK," Rory said quietly as they made there way down a hallway to a small, brightly painted room. Rory guessed it was supposed to make things seem less serious for kids. When she saw the room, she wanted to roll her eyes. She was sick of being treated like a baby. She obviously knew what was going on, so why couldn't she be treated like an adult?

Rory was reminded of why she was there in the first place as Mr. Jonas started talking again, "So Rory, before we start, I want you to know that this isn't some big interrogation. I only want to talk to you so we can have a better understanding of how you feel right now. Nothing serious, just casual conversation."

Rory responded without really thinking, "I can tell," she mumbled quietly as she looked around at the bright walls.

"Oh sorry, what was that?" Mr. Jonas asked politely.

"Nothing," Rory replied nervous again. She quickly changed the subject, "So, what exactly are we talking about? Is it where I get to say my opinion of the court case? Because I had notes, but I was supposed to give them to the lawyer so I don't have them now. Not that I'm unprepared. I am prepared, trust me. I don't even need those notes if you don't want me to use them..." Rory rambled on nervously.

As soon as he had the chance, Mr. Jonas interrupted Rory's rant, "No, no, don't worry about a thing, Rory. This isn't a stressful talk, you can just tell me about your life and relationship with your mother and father. But you don't even have to do that if you don't want to," Mr. Jonas smiled kindly.

Rory took a deep breath, "Oh, OK. I guess I can do that. Will it help make the decision in court?" She asked curiously.

"It may play a part in the decision," Mr. Jonas answered, then moved on, "Can I ask you about a usual day in your life?"

The two talked casually for a while, and Rory was just starting to feel a little more comfortable with the counselor as the talk was coming to an end. "So, Rory from what you've said and from how you have handled this, it seems like you would prefer to live with your mom, like you do now. I just want you to know that you don't have to stick with that decision, or even choose a side at all."

Rory suddenly got a little more defensive and responded quickly, "I do want to live with my mom. I know you and all the court people think that our house isn't good enough, but I really like it. It's perfect for us, and it's completely safe. Everything in Stars Hollow is completely safe, and Mom would never let anything happen to me," Rory started to remember her notes and list all the points she had written down.

The counselor smiled to try to get Rory to relax again, "I believe you Rory. If you're sure about what side you are on and have made the decision by yourself, than that's good," He looked at his watch for a second, "Your parents will probably be out of court soon, so we can go wait outside if you want."

Rory nodded and they left the room. She was getting more and more restless, knowing that the more time that passed the closer she was to hearing the decision.

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Meanwhile, court had begun and it was time for the main arguments to begin, "I have heard the lawyers opening cases and now I would like to here from the defendant. May Ms. Gilmore please tell me why she feels she deserves custody of Lorelai Leigh Gilmore," the judge announced.

Lorelai took a shaky breath. She knew that she didn't have that much control of what happened, but this was her chance to have at least a little say, "Thank you, Your Honor. I feel that I deserve custody of my daughter because for all 11 years of her life, I have raised her by myself, with little help from her father. I may have made some mistakes and immature decisions, but I know Rory is happy and safe with the life she has. I can't afford all the extra expenses that Christopher can, but I always make sure she is provided with what she needs. I also have always encouraged Christopher to be a part of Rory's life, and have never kept Rory from spending time with him as long as she wants to. It is only recently that Christopher has shown any interest in spending time with Rory for longer than a weekend visit. I know I'm not the perfect mother, I mean who is? But I do love Rory more than anything and I know I would do anything for her, so please just don't take her away from me," Lorelai finished strongly but she had a few tears in her eyes. She felt like she had just fought for her life, which in her mind, she kind of had. She liked to say Rory was her heart and she loved her more than life itself.

The judge nodded at Lorelai without showing emotion, then turned to Christopher. Man, couldn't she at least have gotten a judge with some personality, Lorelai thought. "Mr. Hayden, please state your case," the judge said just as emotionlessly.

Christopher gave a confident smile, "Thank you. Obviously, I love my daughter and only want what's best for her, which is why I think gaining custody is so important. Money won't be something to worry about which will allow Rory to get the education she deserves and will open so many doors for her," He said slimily, "I think it's only fair for me to get to see my daughter now, since I haven't gotten the chance in the past..."

Lorelai was furious, what did he mean 'hadn't gotten the chance'? She had tried so hard to get Christopher to simply show up in the past. Lorelai was about to yell at him but luckily her lawyer interrupted, "Objection," She looked at the judge who nodded, then continued, "Mr. Hayden was given the opportunity to see his daughter, but simply didn't take it," the lawyer stated calmly.

Christopher's lawyer looked smug, "Yes, but that was before Christopher found out about the unsafe living conditions, Rory was dealing with," the lawyer looked so satisfied that it was obvious this was the plan from the start. That's what you get for messing with a rich lawyer from Hartford society.

After that everything was a blur. Lorelai's lawyer tried to object to Christopher's claims, but it was no match for Christopher's lawyer who, no doubt, was the most prestigious and expensive lawyer around. After that, it didn't take long for the judge to reach a decision.

Still with as much as a stonewall facade as ever, the judge announced their decision, "I award custody of Lorelai Leigh Gilmore to Mr. Hayden, but on the condition that she sees Ms. Gilmore one day a week, not required to be overnight," the judge banged their gavel, "Case dismissed."

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AN: Sorry! I know some of you may not like the outcome of this chapter. Don't worry, there will be a happy ending, but all stories need some drama, right? I hope this wasn't too boring or unrealistic, I had a lot of trouble writing it. Also, if you're wondering about Christopher's girlfriend, there is a story with her which will all be explained later. Please tell me your thoughts in reviews=)


	11. Loneliness

Lorelai heard the judges verdict, but couldn't process it. How could they take her baby, her daughter, her best friend away from her just like that? It was like the rest of the world didn't exist. Everything was a blur. She just stood there staring ahead, but not really seeing anything. She was slightly aware of someone trying to talk to her, but couldn't get her brain to even think about who it was or what they were saying.

She felt herself moving towards the exit, but didn't feel like she was actually moving her legs, more like someone told her to leave and she was just following the command. It was a sort of numb feeling. She felt lost and completely in shock. It wasn't that she was shocked about the outcome of the case, she had prepared herself for that, but she couldn't prepare herself for actually losing her daughter. Lorelai was finally snapped out of her trance, as her eyes fell on Rory, who was sitting in a chair and had a few tears running down her face. How did she know what had happened already? That was when Lorelai realized that she herself was crying, she hadn't even noticed tell that moment. Rory quickly got up from the chair and ran over to her mom. She hugged her as tightly as she could and Lorelai hugged her back just as strongly. The two stayed like that, crying on each others shoulders for what seemed like forever.

Rory felt herself go numb when she saw her mom. She was crying pretty hard, and had a glazed look in her eyes. Lorelai was the strongest person she knew, especially in front of her, so this could only mean one thing: they had lost. After crying and hugging her mom for who knows how long, fear and curiosity overwhelmed Rory, she wanted to know what was going to happen to her, "Mom," Rory whispered. Lorelai looked her in the eye, "What did they say?" she asked.

"They said you have to live with your dad, and the potting shed is an "unfit home" so you can't stay over night there," Lorelai was trying to be clear but she was still crying, and it was hard for her to say out loud. Part of her wanted Rory to be happy about living with Christopher, but then again, the more selfish side of her wanted to keep her baby girl all to herself.

"Hey Rory, time to go," a voice cut into Lorelai's thoughts as Christopher walked up.

"No!" Rory shouted automatically as she started crying harder.

Christopher seemed frustrated, "I don't get why you're upset about this. I just want what's best for you."

"Hey Chris, can I talk to you for a minute?" Lorelai interrupted. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his arm to lead him to the other side of the room.

"What do you want Lor!?" Christopher exclaimed angrily.

"Well, Christopher there's a lot I want. Like, I don't know, custody of my daughter, but if you mean why did I want to talk to you, it's because I want to know why?" Lorelai said madly.

"Why what?" Christopher asked confused.

"Why do you suddenly "want what's best for Rory"? Why do suddenly want custody of her?" Lorelai asked. The question had been bothering her and she wanted a straight answer. Christopher could be easily manipulated and she wanted to know whose idea this whole mess was. Probably not Christopher's.

"Well... I... After I found out about your potting shed, I realized I could give Rory a much better life than that so... that's why I decided I needed custody of Rory," Christopher stuttered a bit, but his answer still sounded well put together. It didn't fool Lorelai though, she had known him long enough to see through his lies.

Lorelai would have pushed him more but she knew she wasn't going to get the truth, "Whatever."

"Well, I'm gonna go get Rory," Christopher said wanting to get his daughter and get out of there.

Lorelai felt her stomach flip. He couldn't take Rory away right now, could he? They needed at least a little notice, and Rory still needed to get her stuff. "What? You can't take Rory right now. She still has to pick up her things, she needs to prepare..." Lorelai started to panic a little.

"Actually I should take Rory right now since the judge claimed your shed to be unsafe. We can pick up her things up tomorrow," Christopher said defiantly.

Lorelai started tearing up again, knowing Christopher was right, "Couldn't she stay with me one more night?"

"I'm afraid we have to listen to the judges orders," Christopher replied with a slight smile.

Lorelai glared at him, but turned to make her way back to her daughter. Rory looked up at her mom with tears in her eyes, "Do I have to go with Dad right now?" she asked so quietly Lorelai almost didn't hear her.

Lorelai just nodded. Rory looked so small and scared, all Lorelai wanted to do was make her pain go away. She put her arm around Rory's shoulder for comfort.

Christopher was starting to get impatient, why was Rory so upset about this? It wasn't like she would never see Lorelai again, and he was her dad. He walked over to the girls, "Rory, can we go now?" Christopher asked trying to sound nice. He didn't want Rory to be this upset about living with him.

"I guess," Rory sighed dejectedly. She was done fighting with her dad when she knew he wasn't backing down. As they walked out to the parking lot Rory suddenly remembered something, "Wait, when will I see Mom again? We need to make a schedule or something," Rory said as she started to freak out again.

"You'll see her tomorrow Rory. Remember, we have to pick up your stuff," Christopher replied.

Rory was still upset, "But what about after that?" she asked.

"We'll figure it out," Christopher responded carelessly.

"We can make a plan tomorrow," Lorelai added. She then turned to Rory, "Don't worry about it babe, OK? We'll figure this out."

Rory nodded and hugged her mom, "I love you."

Lorelai smiled through the few tears that were starting to fall, "I love you too."

"I don't want to go," Rory whispered sadly.

"I know," Lorelai whispered back.

Christopher had opened the car door for Rory and was waiting for her to climb in. She finally got up the courage to let go of her mom and walk over.

Lorelai took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards her car as Christopher and Rory drove off. It was suddenly so quiet, and Lorelai couldn't stand it. She was lonely. Why did Christopher have to take Rory right away? Wasn't he supposed to give them at least a day? She started channeling her loneliness into anger at Christopher.

Before she knew it, Lorelai was standing inside of the potting shed. It was making her miss Rory even more. She picked up the phone and thought about calling Sookie or another one of her friends to fill the silence, but she really didn't feel like talking to anyone about what had happened today. Instead she decided to dial another familiar number. The pizza guy wouldn't ask questions and besides, she was starving. It was almost 6:30 and she hadn't eaten in forever.

Later that night, Lorelai lay in her bed, trying to fall asleep. Trying being the keyword, since the bed felt way to empty to be comfortable. She used to wish that she and Rory didn't have to share a bed because it was so cramped, but now she realized that feeling cramped was much more comfortable than feeling empty.

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Rory was lonely. She wasn't alone, but she was lonely. Her dad had tried to be super nice and friendly on the way back from court, but Rory was really mad at him for everything he had done, so she had kind of froze him out. Everything was relatively normal until Rory walked into Christopher's condo and saw Cindy.

"What is she doing here?" Rory asked.

"Well...uh, I guess I forgot to mention that Cindy moved in with me," Christopher replied sheepishly, not sure how Rory would react.

"And you thought it would be a good idea to just not tell me?" Rory said brattily.

"Sorry, it's not like I was hiding it. I told the court and was going to tell you, but I made a mistake," Christopher was getting really annoyed by Rory. He was used to her being easygoing and nice to everyone, but right now she was acting like such a brat.

Rory's attitude continued through dinner where she barley said a word, partly because she was mad, but also because she missed her mom. Cindy was bright and bubbly throughout dinner, while Christopher was trying to stay in a good mood, but Rory's attitude was really getting to him.

Finally it was time for bed. Christopher and Cindy had gotten Rory some things she would need for that night, like a toothbrush and pajamas, so she was set. After getting ready Rory climbed into her bed. She lay still for a few moments until she heard a noise, and then she thought she saw a shadow next too the closet. Rory was starting to get scared, there was no way she could fall asleep like this. No matter how babyish it was, she couldn't remember the last time she had slept in a room by herself, and now that she was alone everything seemed a whole lot scarier. All she wanted right now was to be back home with her mom, away from whatever was making all those creaking noises and shadows in here.


	12. Tensions Rising

Thank you for all your kind reviews=) It makes me want to write a lot more when I know people like what I'm doing with story and are interested.

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Rory blinked her eyes open sleepily, and for a second she thought she was back in the potting shed, until everything that happened yesterday hit her like a tidal wave. She felt a few tears spring to her eyes as she fully woke up and the overwhelming feeling kicked in. It felt impossible to face her dad and his girlfriend all by herself all day, until she remembered, at least she would see her mom when they went to pick up her stuff. The thought made her spirits rise a little, even if she had just seen her yesterday.

After taking her time getting ready, Rory reluctantly made her way to the kitchen to get some breakfast. She was greeted by Christopher, "Hey Rory, you're finally awake," he seemed to be in a bit of a better mood than last night.

Rory nodded, "Can I have something to eat?" she asked.

The rest of breakfast went fairly smoothly. Neither Rory or Christopher said much; Rory didn't have anything to say to her dad and Christopher didn't know what kind of conversation to have with her. Right when Rory was finishing her food, Cindy walked in. She had an overly bright smile plastered on her face, or at least that's what Rory thought since no one could be that perky before 11am. Christopher suddenly seemed almost as happy and walked over to give her a quick kiss. Cindy than turned to Rory, "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

No, not really a good morning, and duh, of course I did not sleep well, is what Rory really wanted to say, but instead of being snarky and creating more tension, she decided it would be easier to just speak as little as possible, "Yeah," is all she said. Cindy seemed like she was at least trying to be nice so maybe Rory could tolerate her.

"That's good. Do you have any plans today?" Cindy looked at Rory with the same sweet smile, like she was just waiting for Rory to settle in and open up. She obviously didn't understand what was going on at all, but that was probably her dad's fault.

Rory's attitude improved some once she realized that Christopher had to take her to see her mom soon, "I'm gonna see my mom," She replied to Cindy and turned to her dad, "Can we go now?" she asked, ready to get out of the apartment.

Christopher visibly tensed up, and looked annoyed, "There's no rush, we can go later. Actually you don't even have to come since we are only going to pick up your stuff."

Rory was suddenly just as mad as she was last night at her dad, "You know that I want to see Mom, but for some reason you have this huge issue with her. And just for future reference, you can't keep me from seeing and talking to her," Rory said hotly.

Christopher glared, "I never said I had an issue with Lorelai, I just think you could spend a little time here before running right back to her."

"You're the one who forced me to live here! You're the one who took me away from Mom!" Rory yelled angrily. She had tolerated her dad and Cindy earlier, but now that Christopher had brought up her mom, she was fed up, "I'm sick of you judging me and Mom. Tell me when you're ready to go," she said storming off to her room.

Christopher was furious, "She never acted like this before," he said to Cindy.

Cindy sighed, "Just give her some time," she tried to calm Christopher down.

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After running off to her room, Rory had laid down on her bed and soon started to cry. She usually didn't act so moody and was much more tolerant of people, but she already missed her mom and it had only been one day. It was really hard for Rory to get along with Christopher after he had literally stolen her away from Lorelai and said all those horrible things about her being a bad parent. The two girls were insanely close and needed each other. She was already done with Cindy and Christopher trying to be her parents. Sure, Christopher was her dad, but he had never really been a parent that had to take care of her or discipline her before, more like an uncle or something. Being her parent was Lorelai's job.

After staying in her room for who knows how long, Rory heard a knock at the door,"Rory I'm leaving now, so if you want to come, please come out," Christopher called to Rory from outside her door. Cindy had told him that he should try to be lenient about Rory's bad behavior because that would make it easier for them in the long run.

"Thanks," Rory said as she walked out of her room. She was eager to get back to her familiar life since she still felt very weird about what her new life was turning out to be like. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that this wasn't temporary. She kept telling herself that some how this whole situation would be over soon, but in reality there was no end in sight. Rory's thoughts throughout the car ride kept her on edge, and before she knew it, they had arrived at the potting shed.

Rory was so excited she jumped out of the car before it even came to a complete stop. Lorelai hardly ever locked the door so she didn't even bother knocking before racing inside, "Mom!" she shrieked happily.

"Rory!" Lorelai shrieked with same enthusiasm, "My offspring's home!" She ran over to give her daughter a hug.

Even though it had only been a day since the girls saw each other, with all that had happened it felt like a lot longer. Sure, they had been apart for that long before, but this time it was different because they knew Rory wasn't coming back home.

Christopher had walked in soon after Rory, and winced as the girls started shrieking. What was the big deal? Hadn't they just seen each other yesterday? This definitely wasn't what normal mother's and daughters acted like. He remembered when he and Lorelai were kids and had been thrilled when their parents left them alone. All he could say was Lorelai and Rory had a very odd relationship. He glanced over at the girls and saw them both grinning, why did Rory have to be such a brat with him, and a perfect angel for her mother? No wonder Lorelai was so upset about losing custody of Rory when she acted like that, "Alright Rory, hurry up and get your things," he said attempting to get Lorelai and Rory apart.

Both girls just ignored him while continuing their conversation, and eventually started to pack Rory's things up painstakingly slowly. Christopher was going nuts, until finally all of Rory's stuff was ready to go. He easily packed his car up with boxes, but getting Rory ready to go was another story. She tried to beg her dad to let her stay with her mom, but gave up pretty quickly when he wouldn't budge.

"Rory, I don't want to sit around all day," Christopher whined, annoyed at how much Rory didn't want to come with him.

"Fine I'm coming, just tell me when I can see Mom again," Rory said defiantly.

"How about I pick you up after school on Monday, then you can stay at work later Chris," Lorelai suggested since Rory was finishing the school year at Stars Hollow Elementary.

"We'll see," Christopher replied shortly, "Bye Lorelai."

Rory sighed and walked over to hug her mom, "Bye Mommy."

Lorelai smiled bravely, "I'll see you Monday."

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On the car ride back, Rory's mind was completely jumbled. This whole situation was really confusing; part of her wanted to get along with her dad, but the other part of her couldn't see anything in him other than the person who took her away from her mom. Why couldn't things go back to the way they used to be? All Rory wanted was to be back in the potting shed having a traditional Gilmore movie night with her mom. She wished her dad would understand that showing up a few times a year and calling occasionally did not make for a normal father daughter relationship. That shouldn't even come close to comparing with how much her mom cared about her or how hard she worked for her. It made her so mad to think that her mom had given up so much for her and then her dad just swooped in and took her away in a snap. Out of all the thoughts floating around Rory's mind, one question kept popping up: Why did her dad want to start this whole mess in the first place? 


	13. I Miss You

Lorelai reluctantly climbed out of bed as she turned the alarm off and went to put the pop tarts in the toaster. This was supposed to be Rory's part of the routine, she was supposed to have 5 extra minutes in bed. She hated to change her routines.

It was Monday morning and for once Lorelai was a little happy about it, since she needed a distraction. Getting ready was way faster by herself so Lorelai was actually early for once. She was about to leave when the phone rang, "Hello."

"Hey Lor," She heard Christopher's voice from the other end of the line.

"Hey Chris," she replied shortly, "Why are you calling?"

"I just wanted to say that you don't have to pick Rory up from school today," he said quickly.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. Of course she thought. She didn't get why Christopher wanted to keep her away from her daughter so badly, "Well, can I at least talk to her now?" she asked, then added, "And don't give me any of your damn excuses about why she's 'busy or can't talk now',"

There was a pause then Christopher mumbled something about Rory getting ready for school, and quickly hung up.

Frustrated, Lorelai slammed the phone down. She used to think she could read Christopher pretty well, he was one of her closest friends as a kid, but right now she was completely lost on what or why he was acting like this. She really didn't think Christopher was a bad guy, just immature, but her feelings were starting to change. It seemed like Christopher had changed.

She couldn't stand to be alone with her thoughts any longer so she headed over to the Independence Inn. When she arrived Michel was already standing behind the front desk, "Hey look Michel, I'm early. And I got delayed by a surprise phone call, so no complaining for you today, Mister," Lorelai exclaimed gleefully. She was trying to be her usual self, even though inside she didn't really feel like her usual self.

"Well, I would give you a prize, but if you take a look at the clock, you'll see you actually just made it on time," Michel replied sarcastically.

"Rats," Lorelai whispered under her breath.

"I suppose for you on time counts as early, though," Michel added snarkily.

"Wow, 5 minutes with you and I'm already in dyer need of coffee," Lorelai said as she walked towards the kitchen.

Right when she entered the doorway Sookie rushed to her side, "Hey Hon, how are you doing?"

Lorelai smiled, glad to know Sookie cared about her so much, "I'm doing OK, thanks," she replied.

"Are you sure, because yesterday, when I visited you, you didn't seem OK," Sookie said skeptically.

"Well, I'm not great but I'm OK... or at least I will be once I get some coffee!" Lorelai smiled and reached for the coffee pot. She really didn't want to talk about Rory right now, it hurt to much. She tried to ignore the look Sookie was giving her, but eventually gave in, "Alright, Christopher called this morning," she said.

"What did he say?" Sookie asked concerned.

Lorelai suddenly looked a lot more downcast, "Just his new favorite saying, 'Rory's busy and can't talk right now, or ever.' Now that I think about it, he should really just put that on his answering machine."

Sookie gave Lorelai a reassuring pat on the arm, "I'm sure he'll be more reasonable eventually. I mean, Christopher's not all bad, right?"

Lorelai shrugged, "I guess I better get back to work and make sure Michel hasn't made anyone cry yet," she gave a slight smile.

Sookie sighed as Lorelai left the kitchen. She wished she could do something to make her friend feel better, but she knew the only way Lorelai would be completely OK was if Rory came home.

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That afternoon Rory felt about the same as she had that morning, and that was not a good thing. She was grateful that it was Monday and she could finally get away from her dad's apartment. He hadn't let her talk to her mom, and when she had asked if they could stay in Stars Hollow a bit after school, he had said he was too busy with work. She didn't know how to deal with all the change that had happened in her life, literally overnight.

During school, Rory was able to forget her situation for a little while since she was focused on school work and got to talk to Lane, but now school was out and she would have to leave Stars Hollow again. As she walked out the front door and said goodbye to Lane, she looked around for her dad, but didn't see him. Maybe he was gonna let her spend some time with her mom after all she thought hopefully, that is until she noticed her grandmother coming towards her.

"Oh, Rory it's so good to see you," Emily said smiling.

"You too, Grandma," Rory smiled, but then suddenly realized that her grandparents might have been a part in taking her away from Lorelai, how hadn't she thought of that before? Her grandparents were always so nice to her, but then she remembered how her mom always warned her that they had a sneaky, deceiving side.

"I know you were expecting your father, but he got caught in a meeting, so I figured we could spend some time together instead," Emily continued talking.

"Could we stay here and go see Mom instead?" Rory asked hopefully. If Emily was picking her up on Christopher's orders she probably supported him, but Lorelai was her daughter so she must want her to be happy in some way at least.

"I'm afraid Christopher said to take you back to my house," Emily replied.

Rory sighed, "You don't have to listen to him. I know it would make Mom happy," she said hoping that thinking about Lorelai's feelings would make her grandma change her mind.

Emily looked horrified, "Rory, that is very disrespectful to your father."

"Sorry," Rory mumbled. She wanted to tell Emily that it was also disrespectful to tell Lorelai she was incapable of taking care of her own daughter. Rory couldn't believe someone's parents could just turn on them like this. Her mom had told her a few stories about Emily being mean and condescending, but her grandparents were always so nice in front of her that it was hard to believe.

After arriving at the Gilmore mansion, Emily said she had some work to get done for the DAR so Rory could look at some books in the study. Rory was going to do just that until she noticed the phone on the desk. She smiled as she realized she could finally talk to her mom. They hadn't been apart for that long, but the two were insanely close and Rory couldn't imagine not talking to her mom for any longer than she already had. She quickly dialed the inn and for once her spirits raised when Michel answered, "Independence Inn, Michel speaking," he said in a bored tone.

"Hey Michel, it's Rory. Could I talk to Mom?" she asked happily.

"Hold on," he replied annoyed.

There was a pause, then Rory heard her mom's excited voice through the phone, "Rory! Finally, you called!"

"I know! I'm at Grandma and Grandpa's so I was able to get hold of a phone," She responded happily.

"I miss you! Are you doing OK?" Lorelai asked.

"I miss you too. I wish Dad would let me talk to you, it's really weird," Rory said.

"Yeah, I know, it must be something about having control or whatever, but I'm done trying to figure him out. I'm sure things will get easier," Lorelai said more confidently than she felt. The most important thing was to keep Rory happy.

Rory smiled a little, glad that her mom seemed to be doing OK, "I hope so, I..." Rory was about to respond when Emily walked in.

"Rory! What do you think you're doing? You did not ask for permission to use the phone," Emily said angrily.

"I'm sorry, I was just talking to Mom," Rory replied nervously.

"Well, you're not supposed to be," Emily said shortly.

That made Rory even madder, "You can't tell me not to talk to my mom!"

"I'm sorry Rory, I know you two have an unusual relationship, but it's for the best," Emily said calmly as she took the phone and hung up. Rory looked at her with tears in her eyes then turned and ran up the stairs, "Rory!" Emily called after her granddaughter. She shook her head, this proved just how bad of an example Lorelai was for Rory.

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Later that evening, after Lorelai got off work, she decided to head to Luke's since she couldn't stand to eat alone again. She and Rory had discovered Luke's a little over a year ago and had become friends with the owner. Lorelai sat down at the counter dejectedly, and before she could even yell at Luke to get coffee he had already put some in front of her. She looked at him in shock, "No lecture?"

Luke looked away, "You look like you could probably use some."

Lorelai gasped, "Lucas Danes, are you going soft?"

Luke glared at her, "I can take it back, you know."

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it" Lorelai responded quickly, "Now for the rest of my meal. I would like a cheeseburger with extra cheese and a double order of chili fries."

Luke looked horrified, but tried not to show it, "OK," he said casually, but then after a pause he gave in and started a health rant, "I can't let you eat like this. Think about what this will do to you in the future."

Lorelai pretended to look thoughtful, "It's a tough choice, but I'll stick with my order," she said with a smile.

Luke just rolled his eyes and went to get her food. Once Luke was gone, thoughts of Rory filled Lorelai's head again. She was so distracted that she didn't even notice when Luke came back with her food, "Hey, are you OK?"

Lorelai quickly snapped out of her daze, "What? Oh, yeah, just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Luke asked even though the answer was obvious. He just wanted to make sure she was really OK.

"Rory," she answered, "I talked to her today but she was with my mom who, like Chris, doesn't want her to have anything to do with me."

"I'm sorry," Luke said, he knew how much Lorelai was hurting right now and he wished he could take the pain away from her and Rory, "If there's anything I can do to help, just tell me."

"Thanks Luke," Lorelai replied gratefully, "Now that Rory's not always here to deal with my daily dilemma's, I might need some extra coffee and maybe just a friend," she ended quietly.

"I'm not sure about the first part, but I'll be here if you need me," Luke responded with a smile.

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I hope this chapter wasn't too bad. It's almost the end of the semester so I was kind of distracted with all the tests and projects due. It was pretty long so hopefully you enjoyed it. Anyways, please tell me your thoughts in reviews=)


	14. Balls and Breakups

AN: Sorry if this seems a bit unrealistic or if anyone seems out of character, but I'm just writing how this played out in my head. This chapter should have some drama, hopefully you'll like it.

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It was now Sunday, a few weeks after the dreaded day in court, and school had just gotten out for Rory. She never really looked forward to the end of the year like most kids, but this year she had used school as her escape so the end of the year was even sadder. Christopher had hardly let her go to Stars Hollow except for school, so she was afraid this would give him another excuse to keep her away from her home. It was obvious now to Rory that her dad wanted her to have a high society life, like the one her grandparents had, and to do that he needed to keep her away from Lorelai which was what he was doing. He always came up with reasons why Rory couldn't see her mom, and when she would talk on the phone to her, he would try to get in the way.

After school had gotten out, they seemed to spend more and more time at Emily and Richard's house. Rory noticed how her grandparents were always talking to her dad about high society events Rory should attend and how he would always go along with them. When Rory told her dad she didn't want to go to the events he would just tell her, it was her mom's influence and she would like them once she started going. Cindy was the one who actually listened to Rory the most. She didn't seem to have a hidden agenda like her dad and grandparents did and though she still kind of annoyed Rory, she could be trusted the most in Rory's opinion. Everything was so much more confusing now then it had been before and Rory was sure there was something going on she didn't know about.

Rory sighed as she was pulled out of thoughts by her grandmother calling her. Christopher, Cindy and her were all at the Gilmore Mansion for a "tea party" that Emily insisted Rory needed to erase all the manners her mother had taught her. Rory followed her grandma into the dining room and sat down at the table quietly.

Emily had been watching her granddaughter ever since winning the court battle and could see how much she had changed her behavior. Sure she hadn't seen Rory much before Christopher had custody, but she could tell she was a polite girl who would fit into society well, at least that's what she thought. Now that Rory finally had the chance to break away from her mother and join society, she was starting to become a mini Lorelai. Emily shook her head to clear her thoughts and went into hostess mode. The lunch was going fairly well and was uneventful, until Emily brought up a dinner party she thought Rory should attend, "I just got the invitation to Wilson Hunter's birthday party the other day, and I thought it would be just lovely if Rory could come. They think status is all about quantity, so the more the merrier," Emily said casually with a smile. She then cast a quick look at Christopher.

Christopher noticed Emily's gaze and quickly responded, "Of course, Rory will be there."

Rory looked between her father and grandmother, "Can I not go? I mean, I don't even know the person and it is their party..." Rory trailed off. Did her dad seriously want custody of her so she could go to dinner parties and balls? Her mom had made it sound like Christopher hated all that stuff just as much as she did, but now he seemed to want Rory to participate in it.

"Don't worry about any of that Rory. It's only proper, and besides, I know you'll impress everyone there," Richard replied with a smile.

Rory looked around nervously. She wanted to tell them all to leave her alone, but she was known to be a pushover in the past, especially with her grandparents. It was then Rory realized that she never really had to say no to Emily or Richard, Lorelai always took care of that for her, "Parties just aren't my thing," Rory said a little defensively when she came up with something to say.

"Could you please just cooperate for once Rory," Christopher whined.

Cindy hadn't said anything so far, but she looked around with an annoyed and kind of confused, look on her face, "Chris, why do care if she goes to all these events? From what you told me, you didn't like them as a kid either," she said looking at Christopher.

Christopher stuttered for a moment before Emily butted in, "Any child who has the opportunity, should become a member of society, they'll be thankful for it as an adult. That's why Christopher decided he wanted custody of Rory."

"What are you talking about? Christopher doesn't care about that for Rory," Cindy replied to Emily confidently. She then turned to look at Christopher to see him fidgeting nervously, and added, "At least that's what you told me."

Christopher looked at Cindy desperately, "No, you're right... That is what I said. I just...um... I think it's important for my daughter to join society," he said uncertainly.

By now Cindy was annoyed be his indecisiveness, "What are you talking about!? You told me all you cared about was Rory's safety and that's why you fought for custody," Cindy raised her voice.

Richard now looked angry at Christopher too, "When you came to me and Emily with the idea of getting custody of Rory, you said she wasn't unsafe, just that you thought you could give her a better life. Why did you lie!?" Richard raised his voice slightly. He was usually a very calm person, but he was also protective of his granddaughter.

"I think you and I need to have a talk," Cindy said as she glared at Christopher and led him out of the room.

Richard had a worried look on his face, and motioned for Emily to follow him to the kitchen. Rory watched her grandparents leave the room and tried to regain her thoughts on everything that just happened. She looked around the dining room and realized she was all alone, everyone had forgotten about her in the midsts of their own problems. She thought back to what she had just heard; her dad had either taken her because she was unsafe or because he wanted her to be a part of society. She was about to try and figure out what it all meant when she heard screaming from the living room, where her dad and Cindy were.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time Christopher! Why did you decide to fight for custody of Rory?!" Cindy shouted.

"I told you this when we first decided to do it; She was living in a shed, and Lorelai wasn't giving me my parental rights!" Christopher screamed back.

"If that's it, then why did Emily and Richard seem so confused earlier? And you know what I just realized; you knew what Rory's life was like long before doing anything about it. In fact, after ranting on and on about what a horrible mother Lorelai was, I suggested you fight for custody of Rory and suddenly Lorelai wasn't such a bad mother anymore. After the idea of actually doing something about Rory came up, you didn't even care about what her life was like anymore," Cindy ranted on, until something in her mind clicked, "I can't believe you! You didn't even want custody of Rory until I convinced you to fight for it! You convinced me that Rory was unsafe, so I convinced you to get custody of Rory. It all makes sense now."

Christopher kept trying say words, but nothing would come out, "...What? No... it's just... OK, fine! I didn't want to have to deal with her everyday! I'm just not a kid kind of guy," Christopher finally admitted, "It's not my fault, I just don't like having such a stable life. Besides Lorelai really likes taking care of her," he tried to come up with a legitimate excuse.

Cindy was now furious with Christopher, "How could you know all those horrible things about the kids life, then not do anything about it?"

"Well, I was kind of mad at Lorelai when I told you about Rory's life, so I may have exaggerated a little. Not to mention that you practically forced me to fight for custody of her" Christopher said defensively.

Cindy didn't seem any happier with that explanation, "Of course I encouraged you to fight for custody when you made it sound like that kid was so mistreated and you weren't even allowed to see her! I thought that was what you wanted," Cindy yelled at Christopher, "You know what, you are not the man I thought you were. You're just a selfish jerk, who doesn't care about your own daughter, and that is not the kind of person I want to be around. You and me are done," Cindy shouted as she stormed out the front door of the Gilmore Mansion.

"Wait, don't go! I'm sorry, OK? You know you don't mean it, you'll be back, I'm sure!" Christopher yelled after her desperately, until he finally excepted his fate, "Damn it!"

Rory had been sitting at the dining room table listening the whole time. She couldn't believe that this whole idea was Cindy's, and not even her dad's. She didn't think he would ever go to such extreme lengths just to keep a girlfriend, and obviously his plan had backfired. Emily and Richard had come into the dining room soon after the fighting started and had heard most of what Christopher and Cindy had said, "He lied to us too, Emily," Richard said in disbelief, "He said that he wanted us to help Rory get into high society, but that was all just a scam to get our help. I can't believe Christopher would do something like this."

"I know, Christopher was always such an honest boy. I'll go talk to him and let him explain what this is all about," Emily responded in denial. Both Rory's grandparents left the room, seeming to have forgotten about her. Rory was so absorbed in her own thoughts, she hardly even noticed they were gone. Heír mom had told her that there was reason why her dad wanted custody of her and now she knew what it was; his girlfriend. Rory was kind of hurt by this but it wasn't a big surprise, and besides, now that Cindy was out of the picture she assumed she could go back to living with her mom. Everything would go back to normal now, or at least that's what Rory thought.

Soon after realizing this, Rory heard her dad's voice, "Rory! Come on, we're leaving!" He sounded mad, but not at Rory. As Rory got up from her seat to go with him, she saw her grandparents comforting Christopher as he tried to restrain his anger for Cindy. She thought it was a little ironic that they had gone to talk to him about lying and were now telling him that he hadn't done anything wrong. Rory was his kid and even she could see that her dad was nowhere near perfect. She might have cared a little more, but at the moment more drama was the last thing she needed.

Emily and Richard assured Rory that Christopher was telling the truth, and even though she was pretty sure that that was a lie, she just nodded. She really wanted to get away from all the tension and go home.

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AN: I hope you liked the drama. I'm not sure if I really did this part of the story justice, since it is a big part. I know I'm a little late so I wanted to make sure to post this today. Thank you for your support! 


	15. Crash and Burn

Rory absently stared out the window as her dad drove steadily along the road. He had been silent ever since leaving Emily and Richard's and she wasn't about to try and make conversation after what had just happened. Her head was still spinning from learning the truth about her dad's intentions and his huge fight with Cindy that had lead to their breakup. Christopher had seemed pretty angry about everything when they had started driving, but now that Rory looked at him, the anger was pretty much covered up by sadness. Even though she didn't want to, Rory couldn't help but feel bad for her dad, she knew he had truly cared about Cindy.

She looked back out the window and noticed they were going in the opposite direction of Christopher's condo, "Where are we going?" Rory asked curiously.

Christopher just kept staring at the road ahead and shrugged. Rory knew this meant he didn't want to talk, but she still wanted to know where they were going, "Why not back to the condo?"

Christopher sighed sadly, "I don't know..." he said unconvincingly then admitted, "I don't want to have to deal with Cindy."

"She might forgive you," Rory replied comfortingly.

Christopher just shook his head. He felt terrible about what had happened. He loved Cindy and wanted to propose her in the future, which was the exact reason that he had fought for custody of Rory. Cindy always wanted to do the right thing, and when she found out about Rory, she thought getting custody of her was right. Christopher didn't want to seem like the bad guy so he had agreed, which he now realized was a terrible idea that had put him in a deep, deep hole. He was completely lost in his own head as misery was over took him.

Rory had sympathy for Christopher, she couldn't help it even though she wanted to be angry with him. Maybe now he would realize how she felt being apart from Lorelai and would take her home. It was wishful thinking, but Rory really needed some hope right now. It wasn't getting any easier to be separated from her mom and now she was starting to realize that this might not be temporary. Rory and Lorelai had been a team ever since Rory could remember, it had always been just the two of them. In Rory's eyes Lorelai was super mom and no one could ever come close to replacing her. Rory sighed as the car came to a stop, now she felt just as miserable as her dad.

Rory climbed out of the car and realized they were in front of a bar. "What are we doing here?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just come inside," Christopher responded as he walked towards the door. Rory followed reluctantly, but wasn't even sure if she was supposed to be allowed in. The place looked pretty shady.

"No minors," one of the hosts said looking at Rory right as she and her dad walked in the door.

This brought Christopher slightly back to reality for a second. He knew he shouldn't be dragging his kid to a bar and was about to leave when the pain of losing Cindy struck him again. Drinking was the only way to deal with his emotions right now. "Can't she just wait here," he motioned towards the entrance.

The host didn't seem to really care. "I guess she's not technically in the bar, so sure" they responded.

"Thanks," Christopher said to the host, then turned to his daughter and gave her some money, "Buy whatever you want, and just wait here. I'll be back soon." He walked away quickly and ordered a drink. He felt a little guilty about leaving Rory behind but she could be trusted. She was a good kid and could entertain herself, or at least that's what Christopher told himself. Besides, if he drank enough he could forget about everything.

Rory watched her dad walk away kind of surprised but also kind of not. She sat down on a bench and crossed her arms, wishing she had a book. She didn't care how upset her dad was or how bad she had felt for him earlier. What kind of parent takes their kid to a bar? She was so mad at her dad, but even more so at the court. Even if it was unfair, she thought it was ridiculous that the court had taken her away from her mom, who would never take her to a bar, and stuck her with her dad. No one really paid any attention to her, so Rory was left to wait with her bitter thoughts until her dad was finally ready to leave. Rory watched her dad in the bar as kept throwing back more and more drinks. She knew he was hurt by Cindy, but this was ridiculous in her opinion.

Finally, after about an hour, Christopher walked unsteadily out of the bar. He had managed to push Cindy to the back of his mind and even almost forgotten about Rory. "Let's go Rory," he called as he walked to the door.

Rory was still surprised at how drunk her dad seemed. He wasn't actually planning on driving anywhere, was he? "Shouldn't we call someone to pick us up?" she asked him

Christopher was too out of it to even realize why she would ask that and just looked confused, "Why?"

"Your drunk! I'm not getting in a car with you," Rory said defiantly.

The alcohol in Christopher caused the anger in him to flare up, "That's not true! I can drive just fine!" Christopher said loudly but unsteadily.

"Dad, calm down," Rory responded.

"Don't be such a worrier Rory. We're going!" Christopher said sternly as he marched towards the car.

"No! I'm calling a cab," Rory said as she tried to walk over to the payphone behind the counter.

"I'm your father Rory. You have to listen me, and I say, get in the car now," Christopher exclaimed angrily. He wanted to prove just how wrong Rory was. He was not drunk and could drive just fine.

Rory didn't know what to say, "Dad, I think this is a really bad idea..."

"Well, I think it's just fine, so let's go!" Christopher said in a bit of slurred voice as he lead Rory to the car.

Rory just sighed in defeat and stepped into the car. Maybe her dad wasn't as drunk as she thought. It wasn't like she had seen many people drink a lot before, and when they warned you not to drink and drive it was probably overdramatic. She didn't really think anything would happen. Christopher drove off oblivious to Rory's worries, and pretty much the rest of the world. Everything started out fine, but then things started getting fuzzier to Christopher and his hands started getting shaky. Rory noticed how he was swerving slightly and all her fears of drunk driving were brought back to the surface, "Dad, should we pull over?" she asked as a question but meant as a statement.

"Huh, wha...what are you talking about?" He stuttered out.

Rory didn't know what to do, and she couldn't help but feel that this was her fault. Why had she been stupid enough to get in car with Christopher? She had been sucked in by the idea that nothing would actually happen to her, and now that she realized just how wrong that was, she was trapped. She sat back in her seat and wished she was back home, safe with her mom. She couldn't believe everything had gone so wrong that she had ended up in this situation. It still all seemed like a dream in some ways.

Suddenly Rory felt the car swerve violently and looked to see that another car had just passed by and startled Christopher. He lost control of the wheel and didn't have a fast enough reaction to stop the car from diving off the road into a nearby ditch...

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Sorry for the cliffhanger. I don't want to give to much away, but I will say that both of them will be OK in the end. I also want to apologize for taking so long to update. I know lately I've been posting farther and farther apart but I will try to improve. I do have more activities this time of year, but I'm going to focus more on the story, so hopefully I will be able to get the next chapter up faster. As always thank you to those who follow, favorite, and review!


	16. Aftermath

AN: I know I said I was going to update this chapter faster than I had been but this past week was really crazy, I'm sorry! I plan on starting to update faster this week, fingers crossed I can pull it together. On another note, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed because guess what, this story has reached 100 reviews! I never expected it to get so much attention so thanks for helping it reach this milestone.

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At first Christopher didn't realize what was happening in his drunken state. He was driving perfectly well and then suddenly, out of nowhere, a car had come up way to close to him. The next thing he knew, his car was diving off the road uncontrollably. He didn't truly grasp what was going on until Rory screamed and the car collided with some bushes in the ditch. The shrubs softened the impact a little, but Christopher felt himself keep moving forward until his head crashed into the airbag and the seatbelt restrained the rest of his body.

Rory had seen how her dad's eyes were glazed over and could tell he was in his own world until a car had passed by and startled him. Rory could tell what was going to happen from the second Christopher had lost control of the wheel and couldn't do anything about it which was why the crash seemed to happen in slow motion. When the car finally stopped, the impact made Rory slam her body against the side door. At first Rory was to scared to move, but eventually she realized nothing else was going to happen and heard her dad call out to her, "Are you OK Rory?" he asked in a more scared than slurred voice.

"Yeah," Rory responded. She looked down at herself and saw just a few bruises and scratches, and even though her head and right arm did hurt a fair amount, she was OK. She quickly glanced over at her dad and was thankful to see that he seemed fine from the outside too, "Are you OK?" she asked to be sure. Christopher nodded just as they heard sirens coming towards them in the distance. Tears of relief sprung to Rory's eyes when the policemen and paramedics arrived and she started to grasp how bad this situation could have been.

"Do you have any injuries?" the paramedic asked as they opened the car door and saw that Rory was conscious, but crying.

Rory moved to wipe away her tears as she responded, "My head and right arm."

The paramedic motioned something to the rest of the people by the ambulance, and then turned back to Rory, "We're going to take you to the hospital in the ambulance, but I don't want you to worry because it's just standard procedure. Understand?" he asked kindly but seriously. Rory nodded and looked towards her father who was talking to a different emergency responder. Rory's paramedic followed her gaze, "Is that your dad?"

"Yeah," Rory responded just as some of the emergency responders from the ambulance brought a stretcher over for her. As the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance she saw that her dad was still talking to the policemen, "Does my dad have to come to the hospital too?" she asked the paramedics, wanting to know it he was hurt or not.

"He'll be following us, but he doesn't have a head injury so it's not as urgent," one of them responded. Rory noticed how all the paramedics didn't seem to worried about Christopher's injuries, but gave each other a look. They were probably figuring out that he was drunk. Rory may have said something but her vision suddenly started to blur and she felt dizzy. Up until then her head had been throbbing which was painful, but this was scarier. Rory didn't realize it but she must have crying because the paramedic looked at her concerned and asked her if she was doing OK.

Rory tried to speak and was surprised when her voice was so choked up. She knew she wouldn't really be OK until her mom was there and told her she was safe. "I need my my mommy," she finally managed in a small voice. She knew Lorelai was going to flip when she found out about the accident and she wasn't sure if her dad was going to make it out alive after seeing her. She smiled a little once she realized it that her mom would be there for her soon.

The nurse was looking sympathetically at Rory. "Don't worry sweetie, I'm sure you'll see your mom soon," she said gently, "Just try to wait tell we get to the hospital and they'll give you something to make your head feel better. It look like you have a concussion."

"OK, could you just make sure that if you talk to my mom, you make sure to tell her that the accident was not that serious. Otherwise she'll be super worried," Rory said trying to look out for Lorelai. She wanted to focus on something other then the pounding in her head, but eventually gave up and just closed her eyes. Her thoughts were so scattered right now and when she tried to sort them out the throbbing in her head just grew. Luckily, the ambulance soon arrived at the hospital and Rory was wheeled into a testing room.

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Meanwhile, back at the crash sight, Christopher was still busy talking to policemen. When the ambulance had first arrived at the scene they had quickly done a physical check of Christopher and determined that he was fine except for his right shoulder which was possibly dislocated. Rory had said she was OK in the car so even though everything was a bit of a blur, Christopher assumed the crash hadn't actually been that big of a deal. At least that's what he thought until he saw paramedics rushing Rory into the ambulance, "What's wrong with my daughter?" he blurted out in a panicky voice.

Christopher's voice must have sounded strange because the policemen all shot each other looks and one of the went to get something out of the police car. The paramedics, obviously used to stressful situations, answered calmly, "Sir, she's going to be fine. It looks like she has a concussion which most likely will heal easily without any permanent damage, but since she's a minor we must take extra precautions."

Just as the nurse finished talking, the policeman walked back over with a breathalyzer test and turned to Christopher, "Excuse me sir, but could you please breathe into this for me?"

"Are you saying I'm drunk?! I'll admit, I had a few drinks, but I'm definitely not drunk!" Christopher exclaimed angrily as the alcohol in him flared up again.

The statement from Christopher basically confirmed the policeman's suspicions, but they still needed proof. "If you are under the legal BAC, then taking the test shouldn't be an issue," the policeman responded calmly.

Christopher grudgingly agreed to breathe into the breathalyzer which showed the expected results. "I'm sorry Sir, but the legal BAC in Connecticut is 0.08 and yours is showing as above that. We can deal with the consequences later since you're injured, but I will tell you having a minor in the car is going to make things a lot harder for you," the policeman stated.

"For now let's just get the hospital so they can examine your shoulder more closely," one of the paramedics said shortly as they led Christopher towards an ambulance. As he stepped inside, Christopher felt a surge of anger run through him. He was sure, or at least he thought he was sure, that he hadn't had that much to drink. The stupid test was probably wrong, right? Or maybe he actually did have all those drinks. The anger in him turned to doubt and suddenly everything seemed a little clearer, but maybe that was the alcohol starting to lose its affect. This stupid mistake could mean big trouble which his dad surely wouldn't be happy about. Why did the world hate him so much?

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Back at the hospital, Rory had just finished all the tests and immediate care she needed, and was laying on a hospital bed in the recovery room. She had a concussion from banging her head against the door of the car, but as long as she relaxed the next few days and didn't do anything to mentally or physically taxing, she would be fine. She had also sprained her wrist from hitting it against the side of the car and would have to wear a brace for the next 2 weeks. The doctor had said she would have to stay at the hospital until the end of the day for observation just to make sure her concussion wasn't worse than it looked. Rory felt better knowing all of her injuries would heal fairly quickly, but she was still scared. Everything had happened so fast and it still hadn't really sunk in yet.

Meanwhile, Lorelai had just gotten to the hospital and heard about Rory's condition. She was relieved to hear that Rory would be fine within a few weeks after fearing for the worst. She still didn't know the cause of the accident and even though Lorelai knew Christopher had been driving, she was trying to hold off her anger until she knew what the cause was. Finally Lorelai couldn't take the receptionist babbling on about whatever she was saying any longer and just needed to see her daughter. "Just tell me where me daughter is!" she said forcefully for the 4th time.

The receptionist must have sensed that Lorelai was out of patience and responded annoyed, "Room 206."

"Thank you," Lorelai said in a rush as she turned away quickly. Everything had been a blur for Lorelai after getting a phone call saying her daughter had been in an accident. She felt a lot better knowing that Rory was going to be OK, but she still had a feeling of dread that she knew would only go away after seeing Rory with her own eyes. At last she reached room 206 and stepped inside. When Lorelai saw her baby curled up in the hospital bed, her heart nearly broke and she wanted nothing more than to make her better. Before she could say anything, Rory called out, "Mommy!"

Lorelai smiled and responded dramatically, "My baby! It's been so long!" She made her way towards Rory's hospital bed and hugged her the best she could considering Rory's position. "Are you feeling OK? Is there anything I can get you?" Lorelai asked more seriously.

Rory shook her head, "Just don't leave," she said childishly.

"Of course not," Lorelai replied as she ran her fingers through Rory's hair. For a while both of them were quiet, something rare for the Gilmore girls, but they were both just happy to be with each other.

"It was really scary," Rory whispered quietly, breaking the silence. She wanted to tell her mom about all her fears, but she wasn't sure how much Lorelai really knew and Rory really didn't want to be the one to tell her that Christopher had been drinking before driving.

"Oh babe, want to tell mommy what happened?" Lorelai asked comfortingly, her face full of concern.

"Well, I don't know, everything happened so fast. One minute we were just driving along, and the next we were off the road," Rory answered vaguely. She didn't go into much detail partly because she didn't want to remember the experience, and partly because she didn't want mention Christopher.

"I'm sorry Rory," Lorelai responded as she remembered something. "Your dad's OK, right?" she asked. Lorelai felt a little bad for not thinking about him until now, but Rory was her main concern.

"Yeah, he's fine. I think he may have hurt his shoulder a little, but that's all," Rory responded quickly.

"Good, and you're feeling up to busting out of here in about an hour, right?" Lorelai asked playfully. Rory smiled and nodded so Lorelai continued, "See, everything is going to be fine. I just hope this hospital has some..."

"Coffee," Rory interjected, "Yes, we all know, but I think you can wait until we at least get out of the hospital to drink some. Besides, hospital coffee sucks."

Lorelai glared, "Fine, I can wait. We can stop by Luke's instead and he'll probably be less of a pest if I haven't had any coffee since lunch."

"Great plan, Mom," Rory replied sarcastically, but happily. Even though she was in the hospital, she was feeling better than she had in weeks. All thoughts about the future and past floated out of Rory's mind as she got caught up in talking to her mom. Even though they had seen each other after Rory started living with Christopher it wasn't the same as it used to be and there seemed to be so much to catch up on. Most of Rory's leftover nerves from the accident had disappeared once her mom had gotten there and calmed her down, and although she knew the accident was a big deal, she had shoved it to the back of her mind. Her life had turned into something completely crazy in the past couple of weeks and she was trying to learn how to roll with punches.


	17. It was an Accident

"Looks like your good to go," the doctor said to Rory with a smile as he finished his examination of her head, "Just make sure to get lots of rest and if you start to feel any worse than you do now, come back to the hospital."

Rory nodded and smiled back. She was relieved that she wouldn't have to spend the night at the hospital since after less than 4 hours there, she was already getting antsy. Even though the hospital made her uncomfortable, what she was really worried about was what was happening with her dad. He still hadn't shown up at the hospital and there was no news about what was happening to him which Rory assumed was not a good sign. She still really didn't want to go into the details of the accident, which Lorelai understood, so she hadn't mentioned anything about Christopher being drunk to anyone yet. Rory guessed the police that had come to the crash scene knew (how could they not?) but no one had talked to Rory about the actual accident since leaving crash.

Lorelai knew that something was going on that Rory wasn't telling her about. Of course the car crash would put her on edge but Lorelai knew her daughter well enough to know that there was more, and since Christopher was nowhere in sight, it probably had something to do with him. It would have been a bigger concern to Lorelai, but she knew that if Rory needed to tell her anything she would when she was ready. Rory was obviously still very shaken up and Lorelai just wanted to be there to comfort her.

Rory broke the silence that had fallen while she was busy gathering her things, "Mom, are we ready to go now?," she said as she reached for Lorelai's hand. Rory hadn't wanted her mom to leave her room when she was stuck in the hospital bed and she still wanted to be as close to Lorelai as possible.

"I think I might have to fill out some paperwork and maybe talk to the police or something. We also have to figure out what's going on with your dad and see if you're going home with him," Lorelai said in a calm voice. Rory clearly didn't like this answer and turned to hide her face in Lorelai's side. "I'm sorry babe," Lorelai said soothingly after seeing her reaction, "I'll try to work something out with him, OK?"

Rory nodded and clung to her mom's arm, "I just want to go home with you."

"I know, Rory. I miss you too, but Dad is taking good care of you and his girlfriend is nice enough, right?" Lorelai asked, trying to see if there was anything else that Rory was upset about.

At that point Rory didn't feel like keeping her thoughts and fears bottled up anymore, and the more she thought about it, the more sense it made to throw her dad under the bus. She was already annoyed at Christopher and in her mind, everything was his fault. The only reason it was really hard to say that her dad had been drinking was because she knew her mom would freak out. "Well, there is kind of a long a story before the accident..." Rory started to say, and then launched into her explanation, "We were at Grandma and Grandpa's house and Dad and his girlfriend, Cindy, got into a fight and broke up. Then I found out that it was Cindy's idea to fight for custody of me and Dad just went along with it."

Rory looked at her mom and saw that she already looked angry, but when Lorelai saw Rory looking at her she gave a reassuring look encouraging her to go on, so Rory continued, "After that we left Grandma and Grandpa's pretty quickly and Dad was really mad, but then he calmed down and was just upset. Then, instead of going home, he went to a bar and by the time he was driving, he was kind of drunk," Rory said the last part in a rush and was crying a little after remembering the experience.

Rory clung to her mom tighter and felt Lorelai kiss her on top of her head, "You're OK babe. Everything's gonna be OK, " Lorelai repeated a few times as a way to comfort her daughter, but also a little for herself. She would admit the thought of something like this had crossed her mind after hearing that there was an accident, but she definitely hadn't expected it. Lorelai was furious at Christopher and her first reaction after hearing what he had done to Rory was to find out where he was and give him a huge piece of her mind, but when she saw how upset her baby was she knew she had rein her anger in, at least for now. There was no way Christopher was going to get away unharmed after he had hurt her daughter.

For the next few minutes neither of the girls said much as they comforted each other. Rory knew her mom well enough to know that she was going crazy with anger inside, but she was grateful that Lorelai was able to control it or save it for Christopher. "Can we go home now?" Rory eventually asked. She just wanted get out of this sterile hospital and be in her real home with her mommy.

"Yeah, of course," Lorelai responded. She hoped that she was allowed to take Rory home and Christopher wouldn't get in the way, but then again how could he? He was the one who got Rory into a car crash and put her in danger. No one could possibly say that Rory was more safe with Christopher than with her. At least, that's what Lorelai told herself as she opened door for Rory to leave the hospital room. However, before they could even step outside they were met with a police officer.

"Hello, are you Lorelai Gilmore?" the police officer asked looking at Rory.

"Yeah, but I go by Rory... And this is my mom. She's also named Lorelai Gilmore," Rory gestured towards her mom as she rambled nervously.

The policeman smiled reassuringly, "Nice to meet you Rory. And you too, Lorelai," he said as he reached out to shake their hands, "I'm Officer Wallas."

Before the policeman could continue Lorelai asked, "Is something wrong, I mean besides what already happened because of the accident," which was all Christopher's fault, she added in her head.

The policeman professionally responded, "Do you know that when the driver, Christopher Hayden, crashed he was considered DUI?"

Rory nodded in response and said, "He was drinking at a bar before we crashed." She was still nervous around the policeman but for some reason dissing her dad felt really good.

"Thank you for telling me Rory, we may need you to answer more questions at the police station if you're up to it," Officer Wallas said.

Rory was kind of tired but replied, "Yeah, I can answer questions, might as well get it over with."

"Are you sure Rory?" Lorelai asked concerned, "You've had a long day,"

"I'm sure," Rory replied and turned to Officer Wallas, "But afterward I can go home with my mom, not my dad, right?" She asked.

"Well I don't see why not," the police officer replied, unaware of the custody case.

Soon after, Rory, Lorelai, and Officer Wallas headed over to the police station. Rory was still scared that someone would force her to leave her mom again and she didn't want to let go of Lorelai's hand unless she had to. Lorelai thought it was ridiculous that the police were making Rory answer questions about what had happened after everything she had been through. What more could she say that they didn't already know? She also wondered where exactly Christopher was in all this.

Once they arrived at the police station Rory started talking to the police while Lorelai waited outside the room for her since she wasn't allowed in. As she sat there, all the events of the past day seemed to catch up with Lorelai and a few tears escaped against her will. She wanted to stay strong, and she had managed to do so in front of Rory, but the truth was that she was really scared. She hadn't cried since the car ride to the hospital and now she couldn't help but let all her tears out. Luckily, Lorelai was able to stop herself before reaching a meltdown so by the time she saw him, there were no remains of any tears, "Christopher," she growled as he walked towards the chair she was sitting in.

"Lorelai?" Christopher asked, surprised to see her, "What are you doing here?"

"I finally put my plan to pull a bank job into action," Lorelai spat out sarcastically, unable to hold back her anger, "Why are you here, and not at the hospital like your daughter was?"

"Stop making this a bigger deal than it has to be, Lor. Rory isn't hurt that bad, and look at me. My arm's in a sling ," Christopher replied defensively as he pointed to the sling on his arm that he had gotten because of his dislocated shoulder.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "I really don't care. You obviously weren't hurt bad enough to go to the hospital, but you did do something bad enough to get yourself stuck in the police station."

"It was an accident! And the only reason that I'm still here is because they're trying force me to pay some ridiculous fine," Christopher responded.

"Oh, I think just having to pay a fine is going to easy on you. You could have killed my daughter!" Lorelai shouted, getting angrier by the second.

"Don't even say that! Rory's injuries are not that serious. And by the way, she's my daughter too!" Christopher retorted.

Lorelai seriously wanted to strangle him, but instead she continued yelling, "Yes, she is your daughter. So why do you not even care about her? First, throughout her life you break more than half of the promises you make, then you take her away from the only life she knows, and for what, a girlfriend? Then, let's not forget the latest, driving drunk with her in your car. Wow folks, looks like we have a winner right here for the #1 Father of the Year award."

"OK, you don't have to point out all my faults and every mistake I've ever made with Rory! I never said I was perfect, but you aren't either! Living in a potting shed, making Rory help you at work because you're to busy for her, selfishly running away from your parents even though Rory suffers because of it. Does that sound like someone who deserves the #1 Mother title to you?" Christopher responded snidely.

"I didn't say I was perfect either, but at least I'm there and I try," Lorelai shot back without missing a beat, "I would never intentionally put Rory in danger."

"Fine Lorelai, you win. I shouldn't of taken Rory to the bar and I shouldn't have driven after I drank, just don't say I intentionally put her in danger." Christopher resigned somewhat angrily.

At first Lorelai was so shocked that Christopher had admitted to being wrong that she didn't say anything. Of course, he wasn't actually apologizing and even if he did, it wouldn't come close to making up for hurting Rory. "I don't want to "win" Christopher, I just want Rory to be safe," Lorelai replied fairly calmly.

"Good, that's what I want too," Christopher agreed.

"If that's what you wanted then none of this would of ever happened," Lorelai replied exasperated.

"It was an accident and if I could go back in time to stop it, I would!" Christopher said, raising his voice again.

Lorelai could see that she wasn't getting anywhere with Christopher so she just responded, "Whatever, you're just talking in circles and I'm done! I don't care what you do, just know that Rory is coming with me tonight and that this is another prime example off why you should not have custody of her." As she finished talking, Lorelai turned away from Christopher and went to sit back down in her chair with her arms crossed and her body turned away from him.

Christopher huffed angrily and stuttered as if he was going to say something, but then gave up and stormed away. Lorelai sighed and rubbed her temples. She had had so much angry energy for Christopher but now that she had fought with him, she was exhausted and just wanted to go home.

Soon after Lorelai had sat down, Rory came walking out of the room where she had been talking to the police, "Hey, how'd it go?" Lorelai asked once she saw Rory.

"It was fine. They just asked about what happened before the crash. I don't think they really needed to talk to me, they just didn't know if I had anyone else to look after me besides Dad," Rory replied and then asked, "How'd it go for you and Dad?"

Lorelai grimaced, "You heard?"

"The walls aren't made of metal," Rory responded then added, "And even they were I think we still could of heard you."

"Sorry," Lorelai said sheepishly, "I was just so angry at him I couldn't control myself"

"It's OK. I don't think you said anything to harsh," Rory said as she leaned against Lorelai. The adrenaline was finally starting to wear off and she was feeling really tired.

"Don't worry Rory, we'll be home soon," Lorelai said as she noticed how sleepy her daughter looked.

"Good," Rory replied. She smiled as she thought about how she was actually going to her home and not to her dad's home. It wasn't that she didn't like her dad, though he could be incredibly frustrating at times, she just really missed her mom. 


	18. Christopher

p dir="ltr"I'm so sorry for how long this took to update, and I don't even have a good excuse. Just know that no matter how long it takes me, I am determined to finish this fic! I hope this chapter is worth the wait even though I'm not sure how good it is. I just needed to get something up. Enjoy!/p  
p dir="ltr"xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/p  
p dir="ltr""Ring, ring, ring!" the phone buzzed loudly in the otherwise quiet potting shed. Lorelai rushed to answer it so it wouldn't wake Rory, who was still asleep. She glanced at the clock and saw it was a little before 9:00am. 'Who's calling me at this ungodly hour?' Lorelai thought to herself. The only reason she was awake this early on a day she had off from work was because she was to anxious to sleep./p  
p dir="ltr""Whoever this is needs to get a watch and learn some manners," Lorelai answered the phone quietly for Rory's benefit./p  
p dir="ltr""Lorelai, is that you? That is a very inappropriate way to answer the phone. I could have been anyone for goodness sakes," replied a snide voice Lorelai knew all to well./p  
p dir="ltr"Lorelai rolled her eyes, "Hello Mother, what do I have to thank for you gracing me with your voice at this lovely hour of the morning?" Lorelai asked sarcastically. She was still mad at her parents for siding with Christopher over her in the custody case and she wasn't going to forgive them first chance she got./p  
p dir="ltr""Why do you think I'm calling? Rory was in a car accident and you didn't even bother to tell me. Whether you like it or not, your father and I are her grandparents and we have a right to know what's going on with her. Even Christopher seems to understand this better than you," Emily snapped back./p  
p dir="ltr""How can..!" Lorelai started to reply loudly but remembered that Rory was still asleep and stepped outside before continuing, "How can you still idolize Christopher after he's the one that got Rory into the accident! Even though I had nothing to do with this, you still find a way to make it my fault!"/p  
p dir="ltr""Stop being so dramatic Lorelai. I am not saying that this is your fault and I am very angry with Christopher, but I would have appreciated to hear what was going on from you," Emily responded calmly./p  
p dir="ltr"Lorelai took a deep breath, "I would have called you and Dad today. Yesterday was really crazy and I had bigger problems to deal with so I'm sorry for not telling right away," Lorelai said equally calmly, "...but you did kind of help put Rory in this situation," she added with a mumble which she immediately regretted./p  
p dir="ltr""This is not my fault either Lorelai! I thought that Rory would be safer with Christopher and I may have misjudged. I was just trying to look out for Rory's wellbeing," Emily replied defensively./p  
p dir="ltr"There were a ton of thoughts and comebacks floating around in Lorelai's head that she wanted to yell at her mother but she knew that she would later regret them, so she simply responded, "I know, I'm sorry Mom." She didn't want to fight anymore./p  
p dir="ltr""Thank you Lorelai, I'm sorry too," Emily apologized, forming a temporary truce between her and Lorelai, "I know Christopher said Rory was OK, but would you be able to come over with the her sometime today? We can also discuss what to do about Christopher in the future."/p  
p dir="ltr"At first Lorelai didn't say anything. She was surprised that her mother had actually apologized and acted like she may actually be on her side for once, but she was still skeptical. "I guess that would be OK..." Lorelai responded slowly. She didn't know why she was agreeing with her mother so easily but even though her mind told her not to trust her parents, she still had some hope that they were really on her side. She definitely needed all the help she could get right now./p  
p dir="ltr""Perfect, we'll see you later," Emily replied properly and then hung up before Lorelai could change her mind./p  
p dir="ltr"Lorelai looked at the phone and shook her head, 'What have I done?' she thought as she headed back inside. She smiled when she opened the door and saw Rory was waking up, "Hey babe, did you sleep well?"/p  
p dir="ltr""Yeah, it feels good to be home," Rory replied sleepily, "Why were you outside?"/p  
p dir="ltr""Grandma called and I didn't want to wake you up with her loud, squawky voice," responded Lorelai./p  
p dir="ltr"Rory ignored the insult and asked, "Why was she calling?"/p  
p dir="ltr""She and Grandpa were worried about you and wanted us to come over later today. I kind of agreed, but if you don't feel up to it, I can call back and tell them we're not coming," Lorelai answered./p  
p dir="ltr""No, I don't mind talking to them," Rory yawned./p  
p dir="ltr""Looks like you need some coffee," Lorelai smiled as she got up to start making it./p  
p dir="ltr""Thanks," Rory replied happily. She had really missed times like this when she been living with her dad. Lorelai was her best friend and mornings where they didn't have school or work were the best. Part of Rory wanted to stay home all day and relax after how crazy yesterday had been, but she knew that her grandparents were really worried about her and going over today would be smarter. They might have finally realized that Christopher was not a good guardian and help Rory go back to living with Lorelai permanently, at least Rory hoped so./p  
p dir="ltr"xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/p  
p dir="ltr"A couple hours later the girls stood outside the Gilmore mansion. The last time Lorelai had been there was when she had basically begged her parents to help her with Rory's custody case and now she was refusing to ring the doorbell. After going back and forth for who knows how long, Rory finally just rang the bell and a maid ushered them inside./p  
p dir="ltr""Oh Rory, are you alright?" Emily rushed up and hugged Rory before she could even make it past the foyer. Rory nodded, but before she could say anything else Emily continued, "I just feel horrible about this, like it's all my fault. I'm so sorry Rory."/p  
p dir="ltr""And hello to you too Mom," Lorelai interjected sarcastically./p  
p dir="ltr"Emily rolled her eyes, "Be patient Lorelai. You make not like it, but the world does not revolve around you."/p  
p dir="ltr"Lorelai didn't look convinced, "Are you sure? Because sometimes..."/p  
p dir="ltr"Before Lorelai could finish Emily interrupted and turned to Rory, "Look at the brace on your wrist, does it hurt a lot?"/p  
p dir="ltr"Finally Rory had the chance to get a word in, "No, it's OK, really. My wrist doesn't hurt very much. I have a little bit of a headache but it's not that bad."/p  
p dir="ltr""Well I'm glad you're at least doing OK, but I still feel awful about letting you go with your father in the state he was in," Emily replied as she made her way into the living room./p  
p dir="ltr""Oh, it's not your fault, Grandma. Don't worry about it," Rory said in her usual kind way./p  
p dir="ltr"As they entered the living room, Richard was sitting in one of the chairs reading his newspaper which he put down when he realized Lorelai and Rory were there, "Oh, hello Rory, Lorelai. I hope you're feeling better, Rory."/p  
p dir="ltr"Rory smiled, "Thanks Grandpa, I am," she responded./p  
p dir="ltr""Why don't we all sit down, I don't want Rory's head to get any worse," Emily said concerned as she motioned for everyone to take a seat. After many questions, once Emily and Richard were sure that Rory wasn't going to faint and turn green at any moment, they turned their attention to Christopher. Emily had always had a poignant hope that Lorelai, Rory, and Christopher would all be a family, which was why she always tried to look at the positives in him, but at the moment she was having a hard time remembering why she liked him so much. She had thought that having Rory be under Christopher's control would, in turn, give her more control of Rory. Christopher had done his part in making that happen, but Rory was more like Lorelai than Emily had anticipated which meant she was very difficult. She still didn't like the idea of Rory living in a potting shed, but Emily had made up her mind that it was the best choice; Christopher had lost all of of her and Richard's trust and if Rory was as hard to raise as Lorelai had been, Emily didn't want any part in it./p  
p dir="ltr"After discussing Christopher for a while Emily took a deep breath and and looked at Lorelai, "Lorelai, I think you should appeal to the court and try to get custody of Rory back. I know you have her right now, but Christopher could take her back at any moment and I don't think he is responsible enough to be a parent yet."/p  
p dir="ltr"Lorelai looked shocked and Rory, who had been getting sleepy, perked up. "Now you realize that?" Lorelai asked somewhat annoyed./p  
p dir="ltr""I thought he had matured over the years, Lorelai. In the future I'm sure he will make an excellent father, but for span style="text-decoration: underline;"now/span I wouldn't trust him with Rory," Emily replied defensively./p  
p dir="ltr""What Emily's saying is correct and for the sake of Rory's safety, I insist that you appeal to the court," Richard chimed in./p  
p dir="ltr"Even though her parents were just saying that they thought of her as more responsible than Christopher, it still felt like they were validating her which was very rare coming from them. "Of course, I'm going to appeal, Dad," Lorelai replied. She was still really surprised that her parents actually wanted too help her out./p  
p dir="ltr""Good, I'm glad," Emily responded but it was obvious she was still thinking about something, "But I want to see Rory more. One of the good parts of this situation was getting to spend more time with Rory and I don't want that to end, so will you promise to come over more often than just the days that banks are closed."/p  
p dir="ltr"Of course there were strings, Lorelai thought. Her mother could never just be nice to be nice without getting something in return. She was annoyed, but this didn't seem like such a big price to pay, "I promise I'll make more of an effort, Mom," Lorelai replied. She usually would've lashed out at her mom by now, but for Rory she was willing to deal with a few /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /p  
p dir="ltr" /p  
p dir="ltr"br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /p 


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